Thread: NY-Illegal to pay $1.65M in restitution ,46 months in prison

Illegal immigrant to pay $1.65M in restitution to state, spend 46 months in prison, for insurance fraud




Monday, August 03, 2009

An asbestos removal contractor who did work at Bristol-Myers Squibb in Syracuse has been sentenced to 46 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $1.65 million in restitution for failing to have workers' compensation insurance.

He also will be deported to South Korea at the end of his prison sentence because he is an illegal immigrant, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Benedict.

Chong Mun Chae, 71, of Queens, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy in federal court in Binghamton last week.

10064708Chae carried workers' compensation insurance, but put only one employee, a receptionist, on the policy, instead of the often dozens of workers who were doing dangerous asbestos removal across New York and Pennsylvania. That way, he avoided paying higher premiums, prosecutors said. Chae's scheme went on for more than a decade, according to prosecutors. He also pleaded guilty to mail and tax fraud.

Prosecutors said Chae operated several companies and kept changing their names to avoid being caught by insurance investigators. Some of those companies included Charlie Brown Services, Top Ace Services and K-One Service.

Most of the $1.65 million in restitution would go to the New York State Insurance Fund. It is more than the state recouped for workers' compensation fraud for all of last year. That amount was $1.2 million.



http://www.syracuse.com/crime/index.ssf ... xml&coll=1

Chae carried workers' compensation insurance, but put only one employee, a receptionist, on the policy, instead of the often dozens of workers who were doing dangerous asbestos removal across New York and Pennsylvania.

I shudder to think how many employees will turn up with Mesothelioma in the next 10 years! If he was cutting corners in one way you know his employees weren't trained to properly handle asbestos.