Business owner busted

A Kalispell business owner was sentenced last week for making deceptive workers’ compensation claims.

Salvador Maldonado-Medina, 36, pleaded guilty and was sentenced July 2 in Lewis and Clark County District Court. The Columbia Falls resident was convicted of felony theft and employer misconduct and given deferred six-year sentences for each count.

He also was ordered to pay $45,858 in restitution to the Montana State Fund.

According to court records, Maldonado-Medina owned SM Roofing in Columbia Falls and La Fiesta Mexican Restaurant in Kalispell.

Maldonado-Medina made a workers’ compensation claim in 2013. He claimed that he fell off a ladder at the restaurant, where a workers’ comp insurance policy was in place.

An investigation found that Maldonado-Medina had actually injured himself at a construction site in Whitefish and not at the restaurant, according to court documents.

Furthermore, authorities learned that he had two employees who worked on roofing jobs but weren’t on the books. Those employees kept working while Maldonado-Medina was injured.

They weren’t covered by workers’ compensation insurance because the policy for SM Roofing only claimed a single employee: Maldonado-Medina. Insurance premiums for a restaurant tend to be cheaper than those of a roofing business.

Maldonado-Medina was paid for lost wages and medical costs while he was unable to work. At the same time, he collected income from the continuing roofing business.

“This case was highly unusual because it involved a defendant who defrauded Montana’s work-comp system in two ways — both as an employer and as an employee,” Attorney General Tim Fox said in a news release.

Assistant Attorney General Mary Cochenour, who prosecuted the case, said Maldonado-Medina reached a plea agreement in the case.

Reporter Matt Hudson may be reached at 758-4459 or by email at mhudson@dailyinterlake.com.