Construction Labor Provider Pleads Guilty To Worker's Insurance Fraud

TAMPA, FL — A Seffner labor construction company owner could face up to 25 years in federal prison after pleading guilty last week to making false workers' compensation insurance claims.

Ricky Gonzalez pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. Gonzales faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison on the conspiracy to commit wire fraud count and up to, 5 years in prisonment on the conspiracy to defraud count.

According to the plea agreement, Gonzales, who owned and managed Ricky’s Construction Company, which supplied construction services and labor for other construction contractors, claimed to pay worker's compensation insurance for the labor force he provided to other construction companies.

According to court records, Gonzalez sent undocumented immigrants to work for these contractors. The contractors would then send Gonzalez what they thought were payroll checks. Gonzalez would then cash these checks at various banks to pay the workers.

The Department of Justice said Gonzales falsely and fraudulently represented his company’s employees had full worker’s compensation coverage.

In reality, Gonzales’s company received and cashed more than $7 million in checks from various construction contractors for his employees that far exceeded the limited payroll figures that Gonzales had reported to his worker’s compensation insurance company.

As a result, these employees performed work on job sites without adequate insurance coverage. In addition, the insurers lost premiums they would have charged had they been aware of the true number of workers their policies were being manipulated to cover.

Ricky’s Construction also claimed the workers were legally authorized to work in the United States, which required the contractors to pay state and federal payroll taxes.

Gonzales’ misrepresentations amounted to $1,094,450 in loss of unpaid payroll taxes to the IRS, said the DOJ.