Flushing Contractor Stole Millions From Workers, State: DA

FLUSHING, QUEENS -- A Queens construction company behind several Manhattan luxury high-rise buildings allegedly stole more than $1.7 million in wages from its workers and cheated the state out of nearly $8 million, prosecutors said.

Flushing-based general contractor Parkside Construction faces fraud, larceny and other charges for cheating at least 520 employees out of pay for hours clocked at various construction between 2014 and 2017, according to a complaint filed in New York Supreme Court on Wednesday.

“Construction workers are responsible for some of the most dangerous jobs in the city, and whether they’re working thousands of feet up in the air or twenty feet below ground-level, they deserve to be paid fairly and fully for their work," said Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance.

The company, whose job sites ranged from the 111 W. 57th St. luxury condos to prominent hotel chains like the Marriott and Hilton, allegedly altered employees' time sheets to show lower hours than they'd actually worked, the indictment states.

"They flouted workers' rights by stealing their wages and failing to pay them for the work they did, according the the charges," said NYC Department of Investigation Commissioner Mark Peters.

During that time, Parkside Construction is also accused of hiding more than $40 million on its payroll from the New York State Insurance Fund to get lower workers' compensation insurance premiums, the indictment states.

New York law requires all employers to keep workers' compensation insurance for their employees and adjust their premium rates based on company's payroll and work performed. Parkside Construction reported an estimated yearly payroll of $1.3 million in 2014, but that payroll skyrocketed to $15 million by the next year.

They along with their Michigan-based payroll manager, Affinity Human Resources are charged in the case for allegedly underreporting the company's number of employees to hide the increase in payroll.

Parkside Construction ultimately evaded more than $7.8 million in insurance premiums, according to the complaint.

"Today's announcement exposes an insidious pattern of fraud and corruption that allowed the defendants to line their pockets and enrich themselves at the expense of their workers, tax payers and government agencies," said Port Authority Inspector General Michael Nestor.

Parkside Construction and its co-owners - Francesco and Salvatore Pugliese - were each indicted on seven felony charges, including: insurance fraud, three counts of grand larceny, fraudulent practices, scheming to defraud and offering a false instrument for filing.

(Lead photo via shutterstock)