Three Orlando residents have pleaded guilty to federal charges for their roles in a large-scale scheme that defrauded insurance companies and the IRS, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida announced on April 4.
Eduardo Anibal Escobar, 44, Carlos Alberto Rodriguez, 35, and Adelmy Tejada, 57, all legal permanent residents from El Salvador, admitted to conspiracy charges involving wire fraud and tax fraud. The trio orchestrated the fraud scheme between January 2015 and August 2024, misrepresenting the scope of their companies’ payrolls to obtain discounted workers’ compensation insurance policies.
The defendants falsely claimed hundreds of subcontractors as employees of their companies, enabling them to appear insured and access construction jobs. In return, construction contractors issued payroll checks to the defendants’ companies, which paid workers—mainly undocumented immigrants—while withholding a 6% to 8% fee.
Throughout the course of the fraud, approximately $146 million in unreported payroll flowed through the companies. This resulted in the defrauding of insurers out of at least $12.9 million in premiums and causing a loss of more than $36.9 million in unpaid employment taxes to the IRS.
In addition to the charges, restitution orders total $50.3 million, which includes $397,895 to cover workers’ compensation claims paid by two insurers. The defendants also face an order to forfeit more than $8.7 million in fraud proceeds and two Orlando homes purchased with the fraudulent funds.
Each defendant faces up to 20 years in federal prison for the wire fraud offense and up to five years for the tax fraud offense. Sentencing dates have not yet been scheduled.
