Los Angeles: On Feb. 8, 2010, former City of Los Angeles employee, 51-year-old Olga Zavala-Edwards, was convicted of workers’ compensation and insurance fraud related to charges of filing a false claim for compensation. Zavala-Edwards, who was a 24-year employee of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), was a civilian assigned to the Department’s Jail Division as a supervisory detention officer. She was discharged from her job on August 3, 2009.
LAPD investigators from the Workers’ Compensation Fraud Coordination Unit, Special Operations Division, began investigating Zavala-Edwards workers’ compensation claim involving an alleged industrial/on-the-job injury shortly after the claim was submitted. The investigation centered on how the alleged Nov. 2, 2008, injury occurred, the actual location where Zavala-Edwards claimed she was injured and what information she had given to her treating physicians. The investigation was conducted in partnership with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Healthcare Fraud Division, Workers’ Compensation Division of the City’s Personnel Department and the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office.
The investigation revealed that Zavala-Edwards did not tell the LAPD, her doctors or investigators with the City Attorney’s Office that her injury actually occurred at her home before she reported to work on Nov. 2.
As part of the criminal conviction for workers’ compensation fraud, the court ordered Zavala-Edwards to pay full restitution to the City of Los Angeles in the amount of $7,654.71 for all salary and medical benefits the City paid as part of her fraudulent claim. In addition, Zavala-Edwards was sentenced to 100 hours of community service and placed on two years of summary probation.
To all my friends,
Giving up a fight not always means admitting guilt or weakness. Life has funny way of presenting us with situations that a decision made may appear otherwise. A lot of times our decisions are influenced by many factors. One being financial, as stated many times before “money is the root of all evil”. Yet with or without money our lives are guided accordingly. I am a strong believer that in life you have to pick your battles, bearing in mind what is available. The important thing is that whatever I decided was the best for me and my love ones. My family has always been and will always be the main priority in my life. Therefore the decision I made on a recent occurrence does not mean what so clearly has been disseminated by the other side. Remember there are always two sides to a coin, and definitely this coin has two sides. I want thank all my friends that despite all that has occurred have continued demonstrating me your love and support. I thank God for allowing me the opportunity to share my friendship with you all. THANK YOU!!
Posted by: Olga M Zavala-Edwards | February 20, 2025 at 12:09 AM