Insider Header
FocusOn Landscapers | FocusOn Equipment Rentals | FocusOn Mining, Aggregates & Construction | FocusOn Land Improvement Contractors
Spacer
BOBCAT CTL
Trending Industry Stories
Spacer
Some Experts Say Wild Super Pigs Can't Be Stopped.
Expand Your Operation Not Your Budget with Bobcat®'s Compact Track Loaders
Robotic Excavator Builds A Giant Stone Wall With No Human Assistance
GraphCast: Ai Model For Faster And More Accurate Global Weather Forecasting
Gorilla® Air and Multipurpose Hose Is A Beast!
The 2024 Drainage Conference
Did Controlled Drainage Help 2023 Crop Yield?
Taking a Closer Look at the Hyundai HX520A Large Frame Excavator
Vermeer Showcases SC1052 Stump Cutter
The Future of Chipping: Morbark, Launches New "BVR" Line of Hand-fed Brush Chippers
One Way To Improve Your Site
John Deere Wins $16.3 Million In Patent Lawsuit Against Kinze, Ag Leader
Male Landscapers Beware! Erectile Dysfunction Among Males Linked to Pesticide Exposures
Monster Jam Announces New Partnership With JCB
4 Maintenance Tips To Improve Construction Equipment Reliability
Spacer

Spacer
Name*

Spacer
Email*

Spacer
City*

Spacer
State/Province*

Spacer

Spacer
Father and Son Owners of Jacksonville Construction Firms Sentenced to Federal Prison

Original source: DOJ

FLDOJ 18123.png

Jacksonville, Florida – U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard sentenced Jacksonville residents Raul Solis (52) and Raul Solis-Martinez (33) to 33 months and 21 months in federal prison, respectively, for conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and to unlawfully employ workers who were neither lawfully admitted to, nor authorized to be employed in the United States. The court also ordered Solis and Solis-Martinez to pay $5,613,082.38 in restitution to the IRS. Solis-Martinez had pleaded guilty on July 27, 2022, and Solis had pleaded guilty on August 4, 2022.


According to court documents, Solis and Solis-Martinez owned and operated Solis Brothers Company, LLC and Duval Framing, LLC, which are construction subcontracting companies in Jacksonville. To illicitly lower labor costs, they conspired with each other, and Hugo Cruz-Medina, the owner of another subcontractor (H&S Framing, LLC) to pay their employees partially “off the books.” By paying employees with a mix of checks and cash, the conspirators avoided withholding the full amount of payroll taxes owed to the IRS. Between 2014 and 2019, their workers received approximately $22,186,096.35 in wages that were never reported to the IRS and from which no taxes were withheld. This practice led to a loss to the U.S. Treasury of approximately $5,613,082.38.


Further, by misrepresenting how much their employees were working, Solis and Solis-Martinez also defrauded the company that managed their payroll functions, as well as their workers’ compensation insurer, both of which relied on the conspirators’ false payroll reporting to calculate the cost of their services. In addition, Solis and Solis-Martinez knew that many of their employees had emigrated to the United States illegally or were otherwise not unauthorized to work here. Some workers had been previously deported from the United States, including Cruz-Medina, only to return and work for Solis and Solis-Martinez.


In a related case, on February 25, 2021, Hugo Cruz-Medina (35, Jacksonville), was sentenced to 41 months’ imprisonment for conspiring to defraud the IRS, conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud, and illegally reentering the United States after previously being deported.


“Employers have a responsibility to their employees to withhold the proper amount of taxes and pay those taxes over to the IRS,” said Ronald A. Loecker IRS-CI Acting Special Agent in Charge. “In this instance, greed drove the defendants to cheat their competitors and steal from both their employees and the American public. Today’s sentencing demonstrates that you can’t expect integrity and loyalty from an employer who would do anything for money.”


“This father and son criminal team profited financially by perpetrating fraud against the United States and private industry, while taking advantage of the country’s workforce,” said HSI Jacksonville Assistant Special Agent in Charge K. Jim Phillips. “In partnership with the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation and the Florida Department of Financial Services, we will continue to hold these criminals accountable for defrauding both the government and private industry.”


This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General, and the Florida Department of Financial Services. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael J. Coolican.



... GO TO Owners of Construction Firms Sentenced To Federal Prison TO READ MORE



Spacer
The FocusOn Group

FocusOn Landscapers
FocusOn Equipment Rentals & Retailers
FocusOn Mining, Aggregates & Construction
FocusOn Land Improvement Contractors
About

The FocusOn Industry Insider, bringing you breaking news and information relevant to your industry.
Contact

We hope you enjoy this no charge service for FocusOn subscribers. Suggestions for making the Insider better? editor@thefocusongroup.com.

Would you like to advertise with us?
Advertising Inquiry
Forward Subscribe