An Orlando construction company owner has pled guilty to scheming to commit wire fraud, facing up to 20 years in federal prison. Wendy Cudemo-Gamez, 47, entered a plea for her role in a fraud that involved misrepresenting her company's payroll and number of employees to obtain lower premiums on worker’s compensation insurance, as announced by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office press release, Cudemo-Gamez's company was supposed to provide and maintain adequate worker’s compensation insurance coverage as mandated by Florida law. Her business model relied on using workers, often undocumented, to quickly fill contractors’ labor demands and regularly received payroll checks cashed to pay these workers. However, Cudemo-Gamez misrepresented the extent of her payroll and the number of employees to the insurance providers, fraudulently reducing her insurance premiums.
The plea agreement reveals that Cudemo-Gamez’s company cashed over $7.8 million in checks from various construction contractors for her supposedly limited number of employees. The false reporting of the payroll size led to workers being underinsured on the job and insurers losing out on rightful premiums. Moreover, this deception enabled contractors to sidestep responsibilities such as ensuring legal authorization for workers in the U.S. and the payment of state and federal payroll taxes.
This fraudulent activity was uncovered through an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations and the Florida Department of Financial Services, leading to Cudemo-Gamez's guilty plea. Assistant United States Attorney Jay L. Hoffer is handling the prosecution.
