Miami Construction Owner, an Illegal Immigrant, Charged With Workers’ Comp Fraud

A construction firm owner in Miami greatly underreported his company’s payroll, defrauding a workers’ compensation insurer of more than $380,000 in premiums, Florida authorities said Monday.

Jose Arias-Reyes, president of AR Carpentry Services, is an illegal alien who has twice been deported, only to re-enter the United States, Florida’s Chief Financial Officer said in a bulletin.

“Florida does not tolerate illegal immigration, nor do we tolerate criminals who take advantage of the system,” said CFO Blaise Ingoglia, whose Department of Financial Services oversees the Office of Insurance Regulation and the Division of Workers’ Compensation.

Arias-Reyes allegedly reported just a few workers to his insurance carrier, allowing workers’ comp premiums of just $5,065, Ingoglia said. If the man had correctly reported his payroll, premiums would have been about $388,693.

That is considered premium fraud, and will be prosecuted by the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will also seek prosecution for immigration violations, DFS said. The insurance carrier was not named in the department’s news release.