​PHILADELPHIA — Coming soon to a workers compensation claim near you: medical marijuana.
That was the message to a roomful of risk managers at a session Tuesday on medical marijuana at the Risk & Insurance Management Society Inc.’s annual conference in Philadelphia.
As of this month, 29 states and Washington now permit the use of medical marijuana — more than half the country.

Two California employers received prison sentences for workers compensation violations, Monterey County, California District Attorney Dean Flippo said in separate statements Tuesday.
Salinas, California, restaurant owner Chang Tai Lin pleaded guilty to two counts of making a material misrepresentation in order to obtain lower workers comp premiums along with one count of tax evasion. Between 2010 and 2016, Mr. Lin underreported the number of employees working at his restaurant, AA Buffet, and falsely reported payroll wages because he paid many employees in cash, the statement said.

Hyok Kwon, owner of Good Neighbor Services, a janitorial company that provided services to some of San Diego’s most exclusive hotels and resorts, has pleaded yesterday to seven felonies, including premium and employment tax fraud.
Kwon was convicted of creating an elaborate scheme to avoid paying workers’ compensation insurance premiums and employment taxes. Kwon stipulated to an eight-year prison sentence and to pay restitution exceeding $5 million.

Woo Hui Kwon pleaded guilty on Dec. 6, 2016 to two counts of premium fraud and two counts of employment tax fraud. She was sentenced to four years and eight months, and restitution that totaled over $5 million to insurance carriers and Employment Development Department.

The janitorial company provided cleaning staff to major hotels across San Diego, Los Angeles and Riverside Counties, including The Hotel Del Coronado, Loews Coronado, La Costa Resort and Spa, The Grand Del Marin La Jolla, L’Auberge Del Mar, The Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons, Hilton and Hyatt hotel chains.
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 Source:  www.insurancejournal.com