Fresno County Man Indicted for Allegedly Operating Fraudulent Disability Insurance Scheme

A Fresno County man has been hit with an eight-count federal indictment, the charges carrying a weighty potential of two decades behind bars. Leonel Hernandez, 51, is accused of elaborating a scheme that preyed on identities to submit fraudulent disability insurance claims over a three-year period, as announced by U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert.

According to the

U.S. Attorney’s Office release

, Hernandez, who worked as a supervisor for a farm labor contractor in Sanger, was allegedly engaged in a deceptive play, where between March 2017 and October 2020, he is said to have used the identities of various individuals, including deceased persons, to file the claims. The indictment describes how Hernandez forged physician signatures on disability insurance claim forms, falsely claiming that the physicians had examined the claimants and provided inaccurate medical information based on those supposed examinations, all for financial gain.

The investigation, as led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the California Employment Development Department, unearthed at least 20 fraudulent claims, which have reportedly channeled more than $300,000 out of the pockets of insurers. Hernandez resorted to the U.S. mail to send his cascade of deceitful claims, as detailed in the

Department of Justice press release

.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Chan Hee Chu and Joseph Barton are leading the prosecution. While the charges against Hernandez carry serious penalties, including a $250,000 fine, he is presumed innocent until proven guilty. The court will decide any potential sentence, considering both statutory factors and Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

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