DOZE CONSTRUCTION PLEADS GUILTY:

Texas Mutual Insurance Company reported that Doze Construction Co. Inc. of Gun Barrel City, Texas pleaded guilty in a Travis County District Court to workers’ compensation fraud-related charges. The company was ordered to pay a $100 fine to the state, plus $17,000 in restitution to Texas Mutual. The insurers said Doze Construction illegally transferred em-ployee payroll into an uninsured second company, a scheme investigators call using a “shadow company.” It then applied for workers’ comp insurance through Texas Mutual, but reported only a fraction of the true payroll. The scam allowed Doze Construction to receive a much lower premium than it actually owed. Texas Mutual investigator Sandra Milburn uncovered evidence against Doze Construction; and Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Andrus prosecuted the case. In October 2002, a Travis County Grand Jury indicted owners Stanley and Cynthia Doze on charges of “Securing Execution of a Document by Deception,” a state jail felony. The cases against the two were dismissed, as recommended by the State, in return for the company’s guilty plea and immediate restitution.