Lakhiv Sidhu, owner of Liverpool Express out of Marion, OH was sentenced on Dec 7th after he failed to cooperate with multiple attempts by the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation (BWC) to help him obtain proper workers compensation coverage.  Sidhu allowed his coverage to expire then claimed that his employees were subcontractors when they were not.

The BWC Employer Compliance Department attempted to work with Sidhu to bring him into compliance.  When he failed to cooperate the agency’s Special Investigations Department opened up a fraud investigation against him.

An audit revealed that Sidhu was paying wages to employees he claimed were subcontractors.  After meeting with investigators Sidhu paid his past due premiums, even though he still claimed his workers were subcontractors.  Investigators also found that Sidhu reported employee wages that totaled $266,000 more to the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services than he did to the BWC for the same time period.

Sidhu was convicted of a second degree misdemeanor for failure to comply with the law.  He was ordered to pay $3,724.77 in restitution, $400 in fines, and serve a 90 day jail sentence which was suspended for two years of community control.

Source: Ohio BWC