Amador County - State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner announced Thursday that the Amador County District Attorney’s Office will get $460,000 in grant funding to fight workers compensation and insurance fraud. In total, nearly $30 million in grants will be awarded to local county district attorneys.Neighboring San Joaquin County will receive $580,000. “Because fraud drives up the costs of workers' compensation insurance, we must continue to be vigilant in our battle with those who dishonestly and illegally take advantage of the system,” Poizner said. According to Amador County District Attorney Todd Riebe, the funding will be used to oil the mechanics of a complex operation, including stings, public outreach, salaries, documentation and offsetting clerical work. Riebe said there are 1 and ½ investigators assigned to these cases. “We don’t have a problem spending the money,” said Riebe. California counties apply annually for the grants, which result from assements determined by the California Fraud Assessment Commission. Applications are reviewed by the Workers' Compensation Grant Review Panel based on prior year's performance. “We were one of the few counties that didn’t get a huge cut in funding because of the reputation of our program,” said Riebe. Funding from past allocations has been used effectively toward a number of arrests and convictions. The workers' compensation fraud unit of the Amador County District Attorney's Office investigates insurance fraud cases in Amador, Calaveras and Placer counties. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.