Another Miami-Dade contractor arrested for workers' comp fraud
The South Florida contractor avoided more than $100,000 in premiums on two separate policies.
A Miami-Dade contractor was arrested on Jan. 23, 2024, for workers’ compensation premium fraud and grand theft, both felony charges, for allegedly underreporting payroll as part of a premium avoidance scheme, according to the Florida Department of Financial Services.
Angel Santos Tzunun, owner of Angel M.E. Construction Corp., is accused of concealing more than $2 million in labor costs that he collected from other contractors, the financial services department reported. By doing so, Tzunun avoided more than $100,000 in workers’ comp premiums for coverage from two separate policies.
Following an investigation, the department found that Tzunun renewed a workers’ comp policy from Southeast Personnel Leasing and claimed an annual payroll of $4,200. For this policy, which ran from Jan. 1, 2021-March 29, 2021, Tzunun paid $665. From January 2021-March 2021, he collected more than $438,760 in labor costs from other contractors, the financial services department contends. If payroll had been fully accounted for, Southeast Personnel would have collected an additional $30,179 in premiums.
Tzunun also applied for a policy from the Florida Citrus Business and Industries Fund. When applying for that coverage, which ran from April 2021-April 2022, he gave an estimated payroll of $166,400 and paid $6,356. During this policy period, the company collected more than $1.6 million in labor costs, the department alleges. Had payroll been properly reported, Tzunun would have paid an additional $81,013 to the workers’ comp carrier.
According to the financial services department, Tzunun failed to notify either carrier of the additional payroll that his company had collected. He faces up to 90 years in jail if convicted on all charges.
This arrest comes quickly on the heels of two Miami-Dade business owners being booked on similar charges.
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