Six Floridians Cheated GCs, Arrested in $15M Workers’ Comp Scam

A multimillion-dollar workers’ compensation scam that raked in its perpetrators more than $15 million has been cracked by state and local officials who have arrested six men in Boca Raton, Fla. and charged them with cheating hundreds of general contractors.

Lt. Vance Akin, a member of the Florida Department of Financial Services Insurance Fraud Division held a news conference at the Broward County Sheriff’s Office and outlined the basics of the scheme. He said the group created bogus subcontracting companies and lied about their number of employees.

According to Akin, the fake companies, which had no equipment or employees, would insure one or two people to receive legitimate insurance certificates. Contractors who were in on the scheme gave the subcontractors a check to be cashed at a South Florida check cashing store. Investigators said the contractors then hired uninsured workers and paid them cash under the table.

After people at the check cashing store and the subcontractors got their cuts, the money funneled back to the general contractors, who often paid employees in cash, Akin said.

Authorities raided the check cashing store in Pompano Beach and two Boca Raton homes seizing about $1 million cash. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported $1 million was frozen in several bank accounts.

Francisco Nunes, 38, of Boca Raton, Marco Delgado, 26, of Boca Raton, Edigar Neves, 46, of Pompano Beach, were arrested Friday in the elaborate scheme. Amjad Shafiq Abuzahra, 36, Mohammad Sulaiman Salameh, 47, and Zeid Hasan Daas, 37, were arrested at the check cashing store.

The men face charges of racketeering and conspiracy to commit racketeering. Authorities are also investigating more than 250 South Florida contractors, Akin said.

Topics Florida Workers' Compensation Numbers Contractors