FRESNO – The owner of a vocational training center in Fresno has been charged with workers’ compensation fraud.
On Oct. 17, 2024, the California Department of Insurance announced that Paul Steve Ramirez, 59, who owns P. Steve Ramirez Vocational Training Centers on Shaw Avenue, was arraigned on 11 felony counts, including insurance fraud. According to the Department of Insurance press release, the fraudulent claims are estimated to reach $200,000.
A multiyear investigation by the Central Valley Workers’ Compensation Fraud Task Force (Task Force) found that Ramirez used his second business, a vocational counseling center, to illegally steer clients to his vocational training center.
According to the Department of Insurance, Ramirez’s training center participated in the state’s Supplemental Job Displacement Benefit (SJDB) training program. The program provides up to $6,000 in training vouchers to injured workers who have a permanent partial disability and are unable to return to work in their regular occupations.
Over a three-year period, it is alleged Ramirez fraudulently collected SJBD vouchers from 37 students without providing any vocational training. Ramirez billed insurance companies for services despite the fact the students failed to meet the minimum qualifications for the program.
Ramirez had a steady supply of students because he referred these individuals who attended his vocational counseling center to the training center – a practice known as prohibited referrals.
The Department of Insurance notes that many of the injured workers who sought vocational training had no choice regarding the choice of the vocational programs Ramirez offered. As a result, these students were unqualified to complete the program and received no benefit from it.
No one else in Ramirez’s operation has been charged at this time.
The Task Force investigation was led by the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office and the Department of Justice. The District Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the case. Ramirez was arranged in Fresno County Superior Court.
