South Florida Contractor Charged with Underreporting Payroll by $5.9 Million

August 24, 2023

Florida authorities this week charged a south Florida contractor with underreporting his payroll by almost $6 million, cheating his workers’ compensation insurer out of more than $350,000 in premiums.

Miguel Porras, principal at Thiago’s Enterprise Construction, of Pembroke Pines, was arrested Tuesday and charged with workers’ compensation fraud and theft, according to a bulletin from Jimmy Patronis, Florida’s chief financial officer.

In 2021, Porras applied for workers’ compensation coverage through Southeast Personnel Leasing Inc. and claimed an annual payroll of about $56,000. His company paid about $4,400 in premium, said Patronis, whose Department of Financial Services includes the state Division of Workers’ Compensation and investigative units.

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