Danny Lee Kirkey, Nightclub-Selling Conman; Michael Holley, Insurance Cheat


A conman got a prison term and a workers' compensation fraudster was convicted in Orange County courthouses.

Danny Lee Kirkey, 40, was sentenced Friday at North Justice Center in Fullerton to two years in state prison for falsely claiming to own
two commercial properties in La Habra and Anaheim–and fraudulently trying to sell the latter plot for $11 million.

The now-closed Boogie Nightclub and Flakey Jake's restaurant are on the Anaheim parcel.

Meanwhile, roofing contractor Michael Amzie Holley, 41, of Murrieta, was convicted Friday in Santa Ana of failing to provide workers'
compensation insurance for an injured employee who fell from a roof and
failing to pay insurance premiums for unclaimed employees, who were
paid in cash. (More details on that case after the jump.)

Kirkey had pleaded guilty on Jan. 15 to four felony
counts of recording a false document with the county clerk-recorder,
five felony counts of forgery, and one felony count of attempted grand
theft with a sentencing enhancement for property loss over $3.2
million. The
prison sentence does not end his worries; he still faces a June 25 restitution hearing.
]

According to the Orange County District Attorney's Office (OCDA):

On July 8, 2008, and Oct. 15, 2008, Kirkey filed three false documents with the Orange County Clerk-Recorder's Office to falsely show that he owned the Anaheim property at 1721 S. Manchester Ave. that included the former nightclub and the restaurant.

Kirkey was not the owner nor does he have any known ties to the property.

On Oct. 20, 2008, Kirkey also filed a false and forged document with the Orange County Clerk-Recorder's Office to falsely show that he owned a commercial property at 1000 E. Imperial Hwy., La Harba. That would be news to the owners of the land where a Target Department Store presently sits.

On Sept. 12, 2008, Kirkey had met with commercial real estate brokers to list the Anaheim property for $11 million. He gave the brokers two forged documents for the listing, one of which he had altered to show he was rightful owner of the property after it had been notarized, and the other on which he had forged the true owner's initials ceding the property to him.

But the brokers became suspicious of Kirkey when he lacked, according to the OCDA, “relevant real estate knowledge.” Instead of listing the property, the brokers contacted the true owner of the plot.

Kirkey went ahead and listed the property online for $16 million, identifying the commercial real estate company that refused to list the property as the listing agency.

Genius misspelled the company and agent's names in the process.

Holley pleaded guilty to a plea deal Friday of two felony counts of perjury by declaration, two felony counts of recording false and forged instruments, one felony count of misrepresenting facts to the State Compensation Insurance Fund (SCIF), seven felony counts of making a fraudulent statement, one felony count of presenting a fraudulent material statement to obtain compensation, one felony count of making a false statement to discourage an injured worker from claiming benefits, one felony count of willfully failing to pay taxes, and one felony count of failing to file a return with the intent to evade taxes. Holley also faces a sentencing enhancement for aggravated white collar crime over $500,000.

Those charges could bring up to 21 years and eight months in state prison, but under the deal he is expected to be sentenced June 25 to a maximum of three years in state prison plus restitution.

Holley, the owner of So Cal Roofing, purchased a minimum workers' compensation policy from the California State Compensation Insurance Fund (SCIF) and failed to divulge he employed subcontractors, paid workers in cash, hired unlicensed employees, and leased employees from other companies.

The roofer then paid his employees in cash to hide the fact that So Cal Roofing had workers

That constitutes fraud because Holley received the insurance based on a false declaration, and he entered into a contract requiring SCIF to cover all workers he employed, even those unknown to the insurance company.

Further, Holley submitted inaccurate payroll reports to SCIF, resulting in underpayment of insurance premiums, according to the OCDA, which showed in court that to hide the fraud, he failed to file an accurate tax return to avoid paying taxes to the state on the cash payments made to his employees.

According to the OCDA: 

On March 18, 2003, one of Holley's employees was injured when he fell off a roof, and subsequently filed a worker's compensation insurance claim. Holley denied that the injured employee worked for him, thus denying the injured employee his workers' compensation insurance benefits.

On Feb. 24, 2004 and March 2, 2005, Holley fraudulently signed under penalty of perjury that he had no employees at So Cal Roofing and filed these documents with the California State Contractor's Licensing Board to make him exempt from securing worker's compensation insurance.

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