Man Arrested on Charges of Workers’ Comp Fraud

State Insurance Department investigators arrested a Garden Grove banquet worker Monday on charges of defrauding an insurer out of more than $35,000 by falsely claiming that an injury left him unable to drive or use his right arm.

Antonio Rivera-Gallegos, 34, contended he suffered ear, shoulder, neck and head injuries while unloading banquet tables from a truck at the Four Seasons hotel in Newport Beach in August 1997.

He later was observed carrying bags of groceries, moving large trash containers to the street, mowing his lawn and driving, said Dave Goldberg, a supervisor of fraud investigations for the department.

The Four Seasons workers’ compensation carrier, Unicare Insurance Co., paid more than $35,000 on his claims.

Rivera-Gallegos was booked into the Orange County Jail on insurance fraud charges. Bail was set at $10,000. If convicted, he could be sentenced to as many as five years in prison and fined $50,000, fraud investigators said.