Red Hook Contractor Bilked State Out of $64,000: Brooklyn DA

RED HOOK, BROOKLYN — Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez has charged the owner of a Red Hook contracting company with insurance fraud and grand larceny, among other crimes, after he allegedly defrauded the state out of $64,000 while failing to provide workers compensation insurance to his employees.

Vasillios Georgiadis, 64, a Dyker Heights resident who owns Coronet Gotham LLC, located at 142 King St., was hit with the charges, the DA's office announced. According to Gonzalez, Georgiadis's scheme targeted the New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF). The state-run NYSIF exists to "guarantee the availability of workers' compensation insurance at the lowest possible cost to employers," according to the agency's website.

Georgiadis obtained a workers compensation insurance policy for his employees in November, 2013, according to the DA's office, but it was canceled in June 2014 due to nonpayment of premiums.

In response to an NYSIF audit, Georgiadis said the company made $58,000 during that period, and he secured another insurance policy from the agency in November 2014. But once again, it was cancelled after a few months due to nonpayment.

However, auditors discovered that the company had actually billed clients $628,278 between November 2013 and April 2014, contrary to Georgiadis's earlier claims, according to the DA's office. Since NYSIF insurance premiums are indexed to a company's gross sales, the agency determined that Georgiadis had bilked them out of just over $64,000 in dues, while leaving his employees without workers compensation insurance.

Georgiadis faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted on the top charge against him, the DA's office said.

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