Jeff Atwater: Investigators Stop Workers' Comp Shell Company

The owner of a Miami construction services company has been arrested for allegedly creating more than 250 fraudulent certificates of insurance to help uninsured contractors avoid $2.1 million in workers' compensation premiums, Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater announced Friday.

Yucet Batista, 29, was arrested as the result of a joint investigation by the Department of Financial Services Division of Insurance Fraud and the Broward sheriffs office.

According to Atwaters office, Batista created a shell company, Y&L Construction Services Inc., and used money service businesses to carry out the scheme. She was arrested on multiple felony charges and was booked into the Miami-Dade County jail.

I am proud of the work of my Fraud Division and this first-of-its-kind collaborative effort between the Broward sheriffs office and the division, CFO Atwater said. As a result of bringing all stakeholders to the table, we are protecting the responsible players in the marketplace, while ensuring those who are diverting more than a billion dollars from Floridas economy are caught and held accountable.

Last week, Gov. Rick Scott signed HB 1277, sponsored by Rep. Daniel Davis, R-Jacksonville, and SB 1586 sponsored by Sen. John Thrasher, R-Jacksonville, aimed at curbing this complex form of workers compensation fraud.