Workers’ Compensation Fraud

IN FIVE WORDS – DO NOT EVEN CONSIDER IT!

If you are considering making a claim for workers’ compensation benefits, it is critical that you tell the truth in connection with your injury claims. The insurance company is looking for a reason to deny your case and your benefits. Don’t give them a reason! Do not give a recorded statement to the insurance company without conferring with an experienced workers compensation attorney. Many times an injured worker is confused and overwhelmed by the process and may inadvertently make a misstatement that can be used against them later.

Fraud is not limited to just injured workers. Employers in the State of Florida have also been charged and convicted of Fraud for not appropriately carrying and paying for workers compensation insurance. Recent examples of employer arrests are:

Recent arrests include:

• Edward L. Bee, 47, owner of Bee Corp., Inc. doing business as Harris Electric in Bartow, arrested for failing to provide workers’ compensation coverage for a worker who suffered fatal burns after an electrical transformer exploded. Bee is charged with workers’ compensation fraud and grand theft, both third-degree felonies punishable by up to five years in prison and $5,000 in fines. The accident occurred at a job site in Fort Meade.
• Six men were arrested in a multimillion-dollar workers’ compensation insurance scheme that involves hundreds of general contractors throughout South Florida. The men are accused of setting up shell companies, which had no equipment or employees, to insure one or two people to receive legitimate insurance certificates. Contractors would give the shell company a check, which would be cashed at a Pompano Beach check-cashing store. The contractor would then pay his employees in cash, thus avoiding paying the proper workers’ compensation insurance premium
• Jose Uriarte, 33, owner of Uriarte Framing, Inc. in Clermont, was arrested after being ordered to stop work at three construction sites because he did not have workers’ compensation coverage for his workers. The department’s Division of Workers’ Compensation issued Uriarte a Stop Work Order (SWO) last April and a second one in October at construction sites in East Orange County when he was found employing a crew without workers’ compensation coverage. His last SWO was issued in February when investigators found Uriarte with a crew working in Osceola County without workers’ compensation coverage. Uriarte is accused of falsely claiming that the employees were leased to explain why he had no coverage for them.

Suspected workers’ compensation fraud may be reported directly to the Department of Financial Services, Bureau of Workers’ Compensation Fraud, 200 E. Gadsden Street, Suite 100A, Tallahassee, Florida 32301, or to the bureau’s toll free hotline number at 1-800-378-0445. Suspected fraud is also reported to the Florida Workers’ Compensation, Bureau of Compliance’s toll free hotline at 1-800-742-2214. Anonymous calls are accepted. The Non-Compliance Referral Form to report employer’s who do not have workers’ compensation insurance coverage can be accessed at the Financial Services Website Reference: Section 440.1051, Florida Statutes

Kevin A. Moore, esq.

Kevin A. Moore is a Florida area based Florida Workers Compensation (Workers Comp) law firm which provides Workers Comp law services statewide.

Workers Compensation law, as practiced by Kevin A. Moore, addresses all of a client’s concerns when aggressively pursuing justice for his clients. This site explains how Kevin’s firm handles workers’ compensation cases and often explains the complexity of Florida’s Workers’ Compensation law in layman’s terms. He has provided a Statutes Page defining the terms of Florida Workers Compensation Statute 440 and a link to the Florida Chapter 440 page for the legal definitions.

As a premiere Florida workers comp lawyer, Kevin Moore not only provides the legal advice and counsel expected of an experienced WC attorney, his firm also collaborates with other professionals and para-professionals to provide his clients with all of the resources needed to successfully resolve their cases.