Fla. Company Owner Must Pay Restitution

The owner of a South Florida drywall and plastering company has been ordered to pay $110,000 in restitution after entering a no contest plea to two counts of workers’ compensation insurance fraud.

Kraig Wayne Bryan, 33, owner of B&D Drywall Inc., was arrested in May 2003 following an investigation by the Department of Financial Services, Division of Insurance Fraud. State fraud investigators determined that Bryan underreported his payroll by at least $800,000 to avoid $140,000 in workers’ comp premiums.

Bryan entered his plea in Palm Beach Circuit Court. Judge Lucy Brown handed down the sentence which, in addition to the restitution to two insurance carriers, included an order to serve five years of probation and pay more than $6,000 in investigative and court costs. The Office of Statewide Prosecution handled the prosecution.

Bryan reportedly under-reported his payroll to AmComp Assurance Corporation and Bridgefield Casualty Insurance Company on monthly self-audits that he signed and forwarded to the companies between June 1999 and December 2003. Bryan operated the business from his home in Homestead.