Cleaning company owner pleads guilty to workers comp fraud

The Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation on Friday said the owner of a Hudson, Ohio-based cleaning business must serve 30 days under house arrest and pay $14,000 in restitution to the bureau after pleading guilty to workers comp fraud.

Amanda Joy Klapp, owner of Amanda Joy’s Cleaning Co., has had employees since 2013 but didn’t secure Ohio BWC coverage until 2015, intentionally underreporting payroll to avoid paying a higher premium. She attempted to take out a new policy using her husband’s name to avoid paying the balance owed on her original policy after she stopped paying premiums and the policy lapsed, according the bureau’s special investigations department.

Ms. Klapp pleaded guilty on Jan. 9 to three first-degree misdemeanor counts of workers comp fraud in Stow Municipal Court in Summit County, Ohio. She was fined $500 on each count. Ms. Klapp must also bring her BWC coverage into compliance within 30 days and pay $750 in fines, the bureau said in a statement.