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Members of a family-run trucking company in Fresno face felony fraud charges, suspected in a $2.5 million workers’ comp scheme.

Karamjit Nijjar, his wife Rajinder Kaur Nijjar and their daughter Mandip Nijjar were arraigned Tuesday on four felony counts each, suspected of underreporting more than $2.5 million in employee payroll to illegally reduce insurance premiums.

The Nijjars pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The investigation began after the California Department of Insurance received an anonymous tip that an employee of a Fresno trucking business owned by Karamjit Nijjar was denied workers’ comp benefits.

Through the course of the investigation by the Central Valley Workers’ Compensation Fraud Task Force, it was found that Karamjit Nijjar was associated with another business called Renteria Trucking. Karamjit and Rajinder own and operate Renteria Trucking. Their daughter Mandip is an employee.

The investigation found that Renteria Trucking reported about $2.47 million in employee payroll during routine payroll audits, reported the California Department of Insurance in a news release, though a forensic audit revealed Renteria Trucking  actually paid more than $5 million in employee payroll for the same period.

The alleged misrepresentation by the Nijjars resulted in a reduction of workers’ comp insurance premiums paid, resulting in $352,913 in premium owned to the State Compensation Insurance Fund, according to the release.

The Fresno County District Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the case. The Nijjars are expected back in court on Nov. 15, 2022.

The Central Valley Workers’ Compensation Fraud Task Force is an inter-agency anti-fraud partnership with members from the California Department of Insurance, the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office, the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office, the Kings County District Attorney’s Office, the Kern County District Attorney’s Office, the Merced County District Attorney’s Office, the Madera County District Attorney’s Office, the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office, the California Employment Development Department, and the California Franchise Tax Board.