Feb 11, 2006 2:49 pm US/Eastern
Six Arrested in South Florida Workers Comp Scheme
BOCA RATON (CBS4/AP) ―
Six men who allegedly ripped off the Florida workers compensation system in a multimillion-dollar workers' compensation insurance scheme have been arrested by state and local investigators, who say their scam involved hundreds of general contractors throughout South Florida.
The group made millions cheating workers' compensation insurance by creating bogus subcontracting companies that lied about their number of employees, said Lt. Vance Akin, of the state Department of Financial Services' insurance fraud division.
Two bogus companies raked in about $15 million after legitimately insuring one or two people, investigators said. 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 and two Boca Raton homes this week, seizing about $1 million cash.
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.
It was not known whether the men arrested were represented by attorneys.
(© 2006 CBS Worldwide Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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