Prosecutors Consider Asking for Donations : Business: Some officials fear the district attorney’s plan to help pay for handling workers’ compensation fraud cases may create conflicts of interest.

The Ventura County district attorney’s office is planning to solicit donations from private companies to prosecute workers’ compensation fraud cases--an idea that troubles some local officials and legal experts.

Assistant Dist. Atty. Colleen (Toy) White said Wednesday that the office plans to work with the Ventura Chamber of Commerce in an effort to obtain private donations that would finance the prosecution of fraud cases.

Yet the prospect of collecting private donations for public prosecution has raised concerns among some county officials and legal scholars.

“It could be perceived they are setting up a system where justice is for sale,” said Gerald Uelmen, dean of the Santa Clara School of Law. “I think it’s a very dangerous practice and bad precedent.”

Supervisor John K. Flynn said he worries that the district attorney could mix too closely with private industry that he might be called upon someday to prosecute.

“It seems there may be a conflict,” Flynn said. “It’s an unusual way to fund programs. We would be better off to seek some changes in the workers’ compensation law.”

Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury has received numerous phone calls from companies offering financial assistance since June, when he announced that a budget crunch would preclude his office from helping state insurance officials investigate and prosecute workers’ compensation fraud cases.

“Some private groups are interested in helping in these troubled times,” said Bradbury, who was ordered by county supervisors on Tuesday to cut his budget by 5% on top of a 4.5% cut last year.

Responding to the requests of the businesses, Bradbury agreed to put together a proposal that would detail how much money and personnel would be needed to prosecute the cases.

He said he recognizes that the idea could be controversial and create image problems. But, he said, he would proceed gingerly.

“We need to carefully explore this,” he said, adding that he would discuss the idea with the county counsel and the state attorney general’s office.

White said she hopes to submit the details of the private fund-raising plan to the Ventura chamber officials next week.

Officials estimate that the number of workers’ compensation fraud cases in Ventura County is relatively small. Usually, the cases come from employers suspicious that workers have filed injury or illness claims that are false.

The county accounts for 1.93% of the work force in the state and only 0.37% of the fraudulent workers’ compensation cases--far short of the large, metropolitan areas. By comparison, Los Angeles County makes up 33% of the work force in the state, but it accounts for 73% of the workers’ compensation fraud cases.

Although the Ventura County number may be low, just one fraud case can devastate a small company, said Jim Barroca, executive vice president of the Ventura Chamber of Commerce.

“A little business just can’t afford it,” Barroca said. “And it’s getting so abusive.”

Bradbury initiated a similar undertaking with merchants several years ago by agreeing to take donations to prosecute people who write bad checks.

The program turned out to be extremely successful, leading to the arrest of dozens of offenders. Although local merchants originally donated money to get the program off the ground, the effort now pays for itself from fees collected from suspects.

Uelmen of the Santa Clara School of Law said he knows of no other county in the state that engages in such practices. “It takes the whole process of fund raising and campaign contributions to another level,” he said.

Ventura County criminal defense attorney George Eskin said he is also uneasy with Bradbury’s proposal.

“It just raises some uncomfortable questions,” Eskin said. “It’s almost like a corporation from whom someone has embezzled funds can hire the district attorney’s office. It’s a lot less expensive than the $300-an-hour cost of hiring a private attorney.”

Some raised the concern that businesses might feel forced to contribute money to make sure that their complaints about fraudulent employees would be handled promptly.

Others, such as Ventura County Public Defender Kenneth I. Clayman, said the district attorney could wind up “unduly beholden” to business contributors, forcing prosecutions to justify the donations.

But Bradbury’s idea was praised by Michael Sweet, executive director of the California District Attorneys Assn.

“I don’t see anything ethically wrong with it,” Sweet said. “In these terrible budget times, it’s commendable that rather than saying, ‘Sorry, I don’t have the funds to even look at workers’ compensation fraud,’ he is willing to be innovative and aggressive.”

Times staff writer Gary Gorman contributed to the story.