David Rodriguez Socarras has been convicted in a Florida courtin connection with an elaborate workers' compensation fraud scheme.The man appeared before the Fourth Judicial Circuit Court on June20 and pled guilty to five charges, including application fraud andworkers' compensation fraud, for running a shell company to payundocumented workers and avoiding workers' compensationpremiums.

An investigation by the Florida Department of FinancialServices, Division of Insurance Fraud, revealed that in October2007 Socarras used a fraudulent Social Security card and birthcertificate to obtain an ID card with the alias Harry MarreroVasquez. He then established a shell company with the name HMVConstruction in order to obtain a minimal workers' compensationpolicy.

With the insurance policy in hand, Socarras cashed 80 checks ata Jacksonville, Fla., check cashing store for a total of more than$2.9 million. The cash was used to pay groups of undocumentedworkers, and by using the shell company, Socarras avoided payingthe necessary workers' compensation premiums and taxes needed for apayroll of that size. Socarras was sentenced to 4 years in prisonand ordered to pay more than $400,000 in restitution.