Workers’ Comp Fraud Scheme Costs Texas Business $149K
January 12, 2012 Leave a comment
Texas Mutual Insurance Company reported today that Granbury Contracting & Utilities, Inc. of Granbury, Texas pled guilty to workers’ compensation fraud-related charges. A Travis County district court ordered the company to pay $149,000 in restitution to Texas Mutual.
Granbury Contracting & Utilities, Inc., owned by Wayne Wienecke, obtained workers’ compensation coverage through Texas Mutual from November 2003 to April 2008. During that time, Granbury Contracting & Utilities, Inc. misrepresented numbers of employees and payroll to Texas Mutual.
Because workers’ compensation insurance premium is based, in part, on payroll, this type of scheme results in an employer being charged a lower premium than it actually owes. By hiding payroll, an employer can gain an unfair advantage over competitors.
