Wednesday, September 9th, 2026 — Four New York contractors face criminal charges after Nassau County prosecutors accused them of submitting fraudulent workers’ compensation insurance documents while applying for residential construction licenses.
Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly said the cases followed a multi-agency investigation involving her office, Nassau County Consumer Affairs, the New York State Workers’ Compensation Fraud Inspector General and the New York State Department of Financial Services.
Prosecutors allege the contractors and their companies submitted fraudulent workers’ compensation certificates and other documents to Nassau County Consumer Affairs between June 2025 and March 2026. The records allegedly included altered policy expiration dates, policy numbers and addresses belonging to other companies, as well as information for insurance coverage that did not exist.
Consumer Affairs denied all four applications for residential construction licenses.
The defendants face combinations of charges that include second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, first-degree offering a false instrument for filing and failure to secure workers’ compensation coverage. All four pleaded not guilty and were released on their own recognizance.
Three of the defendants could face up to 2 years and 4 months to seven years in prison if convicted, according to prosecutors. The fourth could face up to one to four years. The charges are accusations, and each defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
The allegations put workers’ compensation coverage documentation at the center of the licensing cases. Insurance certificates and policy information can be used to establish whether contractors have required coverage, making the accuracy of those records relevant to insurers, regulators, employers and claims professionals. The participation of the state Workers’ Compensation Fraud Inspector General and Department of Financial Services also places the cases within New York’s broader insurance enforcement system.
The contractor prosecutions come amid a wider Nassau County labor enforcement effort. Since the beginning of 2026, the district attorney’s office and its partners have recovered nearly $650,000 for 138 workers through cases involving unpaid wages and prevailing wage violations.
The largest recovery exceeded $435,000 and covered unpaid wages owed to 38 employees. Other enforcement cases returned more than $60,000 to 30 construction workers who had not received required overtime pay, $35,000 to 25 employees for prevailing wage violations, $35,869 to five former employees of a medspa and $81,592 in prevailing wages owed to more than 40 employees who worked on public school projects.
