A businessman who pleaded guilty to defrauding the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation has been sentenced to six months in prison, a year of house arrest, and fined $10,000.
Between 2011 and 2013, John R. Cacaro, age 59, owned and operated Employers Choice Plus LLC, a payroll processing company. Employers Choice Plus also made workers’ compensation premium payments on behalf of their clients.
Continue reading
A business owner in Columbus, Ohio has pleaded guilty to a charge of workers’ compensation insurance fraud. He has paid more than $43,000 to the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) in restitution.
Between 2009 and 2015, Gyorgy Benedek reported a zero payroll for his cleaning company, Maintenance Free Building Services Inc. Benedek’s company, in fact, had more than 30 employees during this period, and his unreported payroll totaled more than $650,000.
Continue reading
Craig C. Snee of Jackson Township, Ohio has been found guilty of workers’ compensation fraud. Snee operates Earth ’n Wood Products, a mulching company based several locations in the Akron, Ohio area. Earth ’n Wood also sells stone, topsoil, and landscaping products in addition to collecting yard waste.
Michael Bickis, the Assistant Stark County Prosecutor, said that Snee misclassified employees to reduce his workers’ compensation premiums and also underreported Earth ’n Wood’s payroll to the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation. The Stark County Prosecutor’s Office estimates Snee owes approximately $350,000 to the bureau.
Continue reading
In June, I reported on the case of Rustem Kazazi, who had about $58,000 in cash seized from him at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. The case caused outrage across the country as Rustem was never charged with a crime. His money was taken using a process known as civil asset forfeiture, a legal procedure where law enforcement can take an individual’s property or cash without criminal charges being filed.
In good news, the Department of Homeland Security has now agreed to return $57,330 to Rustem together with interest earned. However, in a lawsuit from May, Rustem said Customs and Border Protection (CBP) took $58,100 in cash. A hearing has been set for December to decide whether the federal government will have to give Rustem the additional $770.
Continue reading
In 2017, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol seized $58,000 from an Ohio man. They have not returned the money, nor have they charged him with a crime.
Rustem Kazazi and his family are originally from Albania in southern Europe, where Rustem worked as a police officer. In 2005, the Kazazis moved to the U.S. when they were awarded visas through the State Department lottery program. They settled in Cleveland, Ohio. In 2010, the family became naturalized U.S. citizens.
Continue reading
Criminal Defense and Civil Forfeiture Blog