David Rodriguez Socarras has been convicted in a Florida court in connection with an elaborate workers' compensation fraud scheme. The man appeared before the Fourth Judicial Circuit Court on June 20 and pled guilty to five charges, including application fraud and workers' compensation fraud, for running a shell company to pay undocumented workers and avoiding workers' compensation premiums.

An investigation by the Florida Department of Financial Services, Division of Insurance Fraud, revealed that in October 2007 Socarras used a fraudulent Social Security card and birth certificate to obtain an ID card with the alias Harry Marrero Vasquez. He then established a shell company with the name HMV Construction in order to obtain a minimal workers' compensation policy.

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