Worker Says Charges Too Vague to Defend

The first person charged in Ventura County with workers’ compensation fraud told a judge Thursday that the complaint against him is too vague for him to defend himself.

Ventura Municipal Judge Bruce A. Clark postponed the arraignment of Alan Griffis of Camarillo and ordered a hearing to determine the sufficiency of the complaint.

Griffis, 41, a sales manager at a Camarillo computer firm, was charged Jan. 27 with three counts of workers’ compensation fraud and one count of theft.

The charges against Griffis were brought by a year-old district attorney’s unit designed to investigate suspicious claims of workers’ compensation.

The unit did not charge anyone in its first year, but has brought charges against Griffis and two other men in the past month.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Rhonda Schmidt denied that the complaint against Griffis is vague.

She said prosecutors have provided Griffis’ attorney with specific details on the charges against the man, including an affidavit used to obtain a search warrant for his residence.

In essence, she said Griffis injured his shoulder on the job but continued to collect benefits after the injury had healed.

Meanwhile, authorities arrested 22-year-old Miguel Gamez of Oxnard on two charges of workers’ compensation fraud on Thursday, Schmidt said.

She said Gamez broke his finger off the job but collected an undisclosed amount of benefits by claiming the injury occurred at work. He is scheduled to be arraigned today.

Earlier, 27-year-old Ronald Lopez of Oxnard was charged with two counts of workers’ compensation fraud. Lopez, a truck driver, has pleaded not guilty to lying to collect benefits.