CARSON : Ex-Mayor, 3 Others Indicted in $2-Million Fraud Case
A former mayor of Carson and three others were indicted Thursday for an alleged scheme to bilk the state out of more than $2 million in workers’ compensation funds, federal prosecutors said.
The 41-count grand jury indictment adds new charges to a case filed against the defendants and others in 1991, scheduled for trial in March.
Named in the new complaint are ex-Carson Mayor John L. Junk, 57; Robert J. Anderson, 50, of Alameda and Peoria, Ariz.; Howard J. Laird, 61, and Alyce L. Laird, 32. Junk was mayor of Carson in 1969 and 1970.
Prosecutors said Howard Laird is a fugitive, but that they expect the other three to face arraignment on the new indictment Monday.
Assistant U.S. Atty. Jennifer Lum said the defendants used firms in Downey, Covina, West Covina and Paramount to set up workers’ compensation insurance for California businesses--but paid only about a third of the funds received from the businesses to insurance companies and allegedly pocketed $2.7 million. The charges arose from an investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service, Lum said.
All four defendants face charges of mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud. The Lairds both face tax charges.
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