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Two store managers from the Bel Air Market in Roseville were arraigned Tuesday after state and Amador County investigators
alleged the pair committed multiple felony counts of workers' compensation insurance fraud.
Roseville Bel Air Market store director Nichole Leddy, 45, of Orangevale, and assistant store director Amy Looper, 37,
of Roseville, were arraigned in Placer County Superior Court.
Leddy and Looper allegedly discouraged injured employees at Bel Air Market from filing workers' compensation claims, and
instead instructed them to seek treatment through individual health insurance policies, California Department of
Insurance officials said in a news release Tuesday.
The department's fraud division, which was assisted by the Amador County District Attorney's Office, "revealed that
Leddy and Looper allegedly discouraged multiple employees from filing claims in order to keep the store record injury-free
and earn special store incentives, including barbecues and bonuses for management," the news release said. "The
investigation also revealed that in one instance, an injured employee was allegedly given cash from the store fund to
cover co-payments for private health insurance coverage. Another employee was allegedly instructed to inform her private
doctor that an on-duty work injury had occurred at home."
Officials launched the investigation after receiving an anonymous tip in March 2007.
Bel Air is one of the operating formats within Raley's Inc., a West Sacramento-based supermarket chain.
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By Kelly Johnson