A Florida woman has been sentenced to house arrest and ordered to pay over $3 million in restitution for wire fraud and tax fraud. The sentence was handed down on March 3 following a joint investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Feliciano Rodriguez, 47, from Orlando, must pay $3,338,558 in restitution and serve a five-year term of supervised release. Additionally, the court entered a money judgment against her for $347,760, representing the proceeds of the wire fraud.
"Fraudulent schemes that provide under-the-table cash payments ultimately exploit undocumented aliens for large profits and undermine the integrity of the industry," said ICE Homeland Security Investigations Jacksonville Assistant Special Agent in Charge Tim Hemker. "ICE, alongside our law enforcement partners, will investigate those who engage in illegal practices and hold them accountable for their actions."
Court documents reveal that Rodriguez created a shell company claiming involvement in construction. She obtained workers’ compensation insurance under this company’s name to cover minimal payroll for purported employees. Rodriguez then "rented" this insurance to work crews subcontracted by construction contractors across Florida and other states. She provided certificates as "proof" of insurance coverage but falsely represented that these crews worked for her shell company.
Rodriguez cashed payroll checks issued by contractors to her shell companies totaling approximately $13 million during the scheme. She distributed cash to work crews after deducting a fee of about 6% of the payroll. Neither she nor the contractors reported wages or paid payroll taxes such as Social Security, Medicare, or federal income tax on these wages. The unpaid payroll taxes amounted to over $3 million.
The scheme allowed avoidance of higher costs associated with adequate workers’ compensation insurance for numerous workers involved. The policy purchased by Rodriguez covered an estimated payroll of $121,800 with a premium of approximately $8,006. However, if based on actual payrolls totaling around $5 million, premiums would have been about $461,679.
“Today’s sentence sends a clear message that off-the-books payroll schemes which enable illegal immigrants to work without paying taxes will not be tolerated,” stated Special Agent in Charge Ron Loecker from IRS Criminal Investigation's Tampa Field Office. “We are proud to work alongside our partners at Homeland Security Investigations on this case.”
The investigation was conducted by ICE Jacksonville, IRS-CI, and the Florida Department of Financial Services with prosecution led by Assistant U.S. Attorney John Cannizzaro.
