FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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BALTIMORE, MD - Attorney General Anthony G. Brown announced today that Fredy Arellano, 45, of York, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to participating in a felony theft scheme that defrauded construction workers of wages on University of Maryland projects.
Arellano was the field superintendent for a construction company headquartered in Baltimore City. Arellano solicited Congratulations Construction Inc. to provide drywall carpenters and laborers on two construction projects in Prince George’s County: the University of Maryland Capital Region Cancer Center and the University of Maryland Field Hockey and Women’s Lacrosse Complex. On these projects, employers were required to pay their workers the prevailing wage determined by the Commissioner of Labor and Industry and to submit certified payroll demonstrating that they had done so.
An investigation by the Office of the Attorney General revealed that although certified payroll records submitted to the state claimed that the workers were paid the prevailing wage, these claims were false. Instead, using varying methods, including employing false payroll names, Arellano and the owner of Congratulations Construction Inc. participated in a scheme that took the money that was due to the workers, and then paid them at a substantially lower rate than the rate required by law and certified to the state. Arellano’s share of the proceeds of this scheme was $63,157. Jose Walter Marquez Rivera, the owner of Congratulations Construction Inc., was sentenced in a related case last year.
“This case shows that we will prosecute employers when they steal wages from their employees, taking food off the table for Maryland families,” said Attorney General Brown. “Our Office will always fight for Maryland workers to get paid every dollar that they’ve earned.”
Arellano was sentenced in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City for one count of felony theft scheme $25,000-$100,000. Judge Jeffrey M. Geller sentenced Arellano to five years of incarceration, suspending all but 90 days to be served on home detention, and three years of supervised probation. Arellano already paid full restitution of $63,157 in advance of his guilty plea.
Attorney General Brown invites any worker who worked for Congratulations Construction Inc. on the University of Maryland Capital Region Cancer Center or the University of Maryland Field Hockey and Women’s Lacrosse Complex to contact the Office of the Attorney General at [email protected] regarding restitution to which they may be entitled as a result of this case.
In making today’s announcement, Attorney General Brown thanked the Criminal Division Chief Katie Dorian and Fraud and Corruption Unit Chief Alexander Huggins, who prosecuted this case. Attorney General Brown also thanked Investigative Auditor Harry Schulz, the Maryland State Police, and Comptroller Brooke E. Lierman for their assistance with this investigation. Finally, Attorney General Brown thanked State’s Attorney for Baltimore City Ivan Bates for his assistance in this prosecution.
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