Milpitas Business Owner Arrested for Fraud

An investigation by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office has lead to the arrest of Vincent Sotto, 66, of Milpitas. Sotto is the owner of both Vincent Sotto Landscaping Inc. and Vincent Landscaping Inc., which provide residential and commercial landscaping services throughout the Bay Area.

Sotto was arrested on Dec. 9 and charged with four felonies involving workers' compensation insurance fraud and seven felony employment tax violations.

In an effort to protect workers, California law requires all businesses with employees to maintain workers’ compensation insurance.  The insurance premium businesses pay is assessed based on a number of factors, including the nature of the business, its safety record and the employees’ wages as reported by the employer. 

It is alleged that between 2007 and 2011, Sotto grossly underreported employees’ wages in order to fraudulently reduce the amount of his workers’ compensation insurance premium and employment tax obligations.

According to the District Attorney's Office, Sotto's actions resulted in a loss of $85,000.

"This type of fraud scheme puts workers at risk of having insufficient or no insurance coverage if they are injured on the job," said County District Attorney Jeffrey Rosen and Deputy District Attorney Katharina L. Wells in a statement last week. "Furthermore, it illegally lowers operating costs for offending businesses, thereby giving them an unfair competitive advantage over law-abiding businesses."

If convicted of all counts, Sotto faces a maximum of 13 years of state prison and would be ordered to pay full restitution.