ORLANDO, Fla. – An Orlando woman has been sentenced to house arrest and ordered to pay over $3 million in restitution for orchestrating a complex scheme involving workers’ compensation fraud and tax evasion.
Marielys Feliciano Rodriguez, 47, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Wendy W. Berger to one year of house arrest and five years of supervised release. She was also ordered to pay $3,338,558 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and a money judgment of $347,760, representing the proceeds of her wire fraud scheme.
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Rodriguez created a shell company purporting to be in the construction industry and obtained a workers’ compensation insurance policy for a minimal payroll. She then “rented” this insurance to work crews, often composed of undocumented workers, who obtained subcontracts with construction contractors in Florida and other states.
By providing these crews with certificates of insurance, Rodriguez falsely represented that they worked for her shell company, enabling them to avoid the higher costs of obtaining proper workers’ compensation coverage. This scheme also allowed contractors to avoid paying payroll taxes, including Social Security, Medicare, and federal income tax.
Over the course of the scheme, Rodriguez cashed approximately $13 million in payroll checks, deducting a fee for herself and distributing the rest to the workers in cash. This resulted in over $3 million in unpaid payroll taxes.
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“Fraudulent schemes that provide under-the-table cash payments ultimately exploit undocumented aliens for large profits and undermines the integrity of the industry, endangering both the workers and the system that’s meant to protect them,” said Homeland Security Investigations Jacksonville Assistant Special Agent in Charge Tim Hemker. “HSI, alongside our law enforcement partners, will investigate those who engage in illegal practices and hold them accountable for their actions.”
“Today’s sentence sends a clear message that off the books payroll schemes which enable illegal immigrants the ability to work without paying taxes will not be tolerated. These schemes are violations of a number of serious federal criminal statutes including wire fraud and tax evasion. The impact of this scheme, and others like it, harm law-abiding businesses and legal workers who are unable to compete against the tax-free labor of illegal immigrants,” said Special Agent in Charge Ron Loecker, of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Tampa Field Office. “We are proud to work alongside our partners at Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) on this case, and we will continue this partnership to ensure all employers are on an even playing field.”
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the IRS-CI, and the Florida Department of Financial Services. Assistant United States Attorney John Cannizzaro prosecuted the case.
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