Eight Long Island businessmen and nine corporations face criminal charges after cheating workers out of more than $250,000 in wages and benefits, Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy Sini said Monday at a news conference in Hauppauge announcing a crackdown on labor-related crimes.
The businessmen and their companies also failed to pay more than $58,000 to the New York State Department of Labor's unemployment fund and more than $133,000 to the New York State Insurance Fund for workers’ compensation insurance premiums, according to Sini..
“The message from my office, from labor, from all our law-enforcement partners is this: If you are cheating your workers, we are coming for you,” Sini said.
Robert Montgomery, 60, of Garden City, and his Dix Hills Brushless Car Wash of Huntington paid workers less than the state minimum wage and failed to pay employees time and a half for overtime, Sini said. Montgomery and his company owe employees more than $180,000 in unpaid wages. Montgomery and his company also cheated the state out of $29,000 in unemployment fund contributions, according to prosecutors.
Montgomery and his car wash were also charged with dumping polluted water into a stormwater drain, according to Sini.
Attorney Brian Griffin, who represents Montgomery, said in a statement Monday, "We are confident that when additional compensation such as tips and car detailing are added to hourly pay, minimum wage will not just be met, it will be exceeded."
Other defendants include:
- Andrew Woodstock, 57, of Oyster Bay, and his Woodstock Construction Group, which allegedly underpaid employees by more than $50,000. " Mr. Woodstock and the company are very proud of their 38-year record in the industry. ...They are confident that in the end all the issues will be resolved in their favor," said Woodstock's attorney Michael Grundberg.
- Paul Gillistro, 58, of Selden, and Goldstar Installation Services, which allegedly misclassified employees in order to avoid paying the prevailing wage on public projects. "The accounting will show Mr. Gallistro paid what is due," attorney Karl Silverberg said.
- Nicholas Guercio, 40, of Brightwaters and Environmental Compliance Associates Corp. Prosecutors said Guercio submitted forged lien releases that claimed subcontractors had been paid when they were actually owed more than $30,000. Guercio's attorney David Oddo declined to comment.
- Arsenio Carcamo, 58, of Oceanside, and Answer Construction Corp. Sini’s office said Carcamo did not include his ownership in Answer when he applied for a workers’ compensation policy. Carcamo owned Multiwork Construction, which owed more than $17,000 to the New York State Insurance Fund, making him ineligible for a new policy, prosecutors said.
- Tosef Siddiqi, 66, of Westbury, and Allstate Enterprises. Prosecutors said Siddiqi and his company submitted a forged performance bond to the Huntington Union Free School District after winning a capital improvement bid in 2018.
- Alan James, 70, of St. James, and APJ Restoration allegedly failed to report more than $450,000 in revenue from August 2017 to August 2018 to avoid paying $68,000 in workers’ compensation policy premiums.
- Richard Hall, 57, of Northport, Regal Contracting and Triangle Enterprises of Long Island. Hall and Regal are accused of failing to pay $7,400 to the Laborers Local 66 Benefit Fund. Regal canceled its New York State Insurance Fund policy in December 2018, prosecutors said. Hall incorporated Triangle Enterprises and failed to list his ownership in the application for workers’ compensation insurance.