Wendy Cudemo-Gamez, the owner of an Orlando construction company, has pleaded guilty to wire fraud in a scheme where she misrepresented her company’s payroll and number of employees to obtain lower workers’ compensation insurance premiums. Cudemo-Gamez faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
According to court documents, Cudemo-Gamez’s company received over $7.8 million in checks from contractors for workers who were not actually her employees, far exceeding the limited payroll she reported to her insurance provider.
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This resulted in workers performing jobs without adequate insurance coverage and insurers losing out on premiums.
The scheme also allowed Cudemo-Gamez’s company and the contractors to avoid responsibility for verifying workers’ legal authorization and paying payroll taxes.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Florida Department of Financial Services.
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