Two await sentencing in workers' comp case
News Desk
Two await sentencing in workers' comp case
BY KAREN MAESHIRO, Staff Writer
ROSAMOND - A Rosamond couple accused of milking the state workers'
compensation system for more than $1 million in direct payments,
medical care and the services of a chauffeur and a housekeeper face
jail time after pleading no contest to insurance fraud.
Rosemary Bunch, a Methodist Church employee until 1995, was declared
permanently and totally disabled by carpal tunnel syndrome and
fibromyalgia, and her husband Robert Bunch is on total temporary
disability for a 1999 elbow injury at a cement plant, officials said.
"I think it's fair under the circumstances," Kern County Deputy
District Attorney David Wolf said. "Both these people had injuries but
they were exaggerating their claims. They were lucky in the sense that
they were cooperative and pled before trial."
The defendants, both 55, pleaded no contest to felony conspiracy to
commit insurance fraud on June 9, three days before the start of their
trial.
They are scheduled to be sentenced in July and face up to a year in
jail, although there was an indicated sentence of 90 days.
Both were out of custody on bail.
A third defendant was Peter Babroudi, 27, of Glendale, a limousine
driver who was hired to chauffeur Rosemary Bunch around at insurance
company expense.
Prosecutors said Babroudi lied that Rosemary Bunch had to be carried to
his vehicle and had to use a wheelchair or special crutch.
He pleaded no contest June 8 to misdemeanor conspiracy to commit
insurance fraud, was placed on three years' probation, and ordered to
testify against the Bunches, Wolf said.
Wolf said the Kern County District Attorney's Office takes workers'
compensation fraud seriously.
"This is another example of working closely with insurance companies
and the California Department of Insurance to make sure we investigate
and prosecute these cases fully," Wolf said.
Attorneys for the couple did not respond to requests for comment.
A workers' compensation appeals board judge awarded Rosemary Bunch the
services of a limousine, prosecutors said.
A judge also assigned her the services of a caregiver - initially for
32 hours a week, later for 40 hours a week - to do laundry,
housecleaning and other tasks, prosecutors said.
A videotape shot surreptitiously before an earlier court appearance
shows Rosemary Bunch walking from her door to the limousine while the
driver carries her crutch, officials said.
In the video, the driver hands her the crutch at the courthouse, and
she straps it on before going into the courthouse.
Other videotape shows Robert Bunch working on top of a tall metal
storage building at the couple's home and climbing up a ladder,
officials said.
Robert Bunch built most of the building while he was labeled totally
disabled, officials said.