A Florida woman has been sentenced to house arrest and ordered to pay over $3 million in restitution for her involvement in a wire fraud and tax fraud scheme. Feliciano Rodriguez, 47, from Orlando, was ordered by the court on March 3 to serve a five-year term of supervised release. Additionally, a money judgment of $347,760 was entered against her as proceeds from the wire fraud.

The case was part of a joint investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) alongside other law enforcement agencies. Tim Hemker, Assistant Special Agent in Charge at ICE Homeland Security Investigations Jacksonville, stated that fraudulent schemes exploiting undocumented workers for profit undermine industry integrity and endanger both workers and protective systems.

Court documents revealed that Rodriguez created a shell company purportedly involved in construction. She obtained workers' compensation insurance under this company's name but used it to "rent" coverage to work crews subcontracted by construction contractors across Florida and other states. This practice allowed numerous undocumented workers to be employed unlawfully without proper insurance coverage.

Rodriguez's scheme involved cashing payroll checks issued by contractors for the workers' wages through her shell company. After deducting fees typically around 6% of the payroll, she distributed the remaining cash to work crews. The total amount cashed during this scheme reached approximately $13 million, with over $3 million owed in unpaid payroll taxes.

Special Agent Ron Loecker from IRS Criminal Investigation highlighted that such schemes violate federal statutes like wire fraud and tax evasion, harming businesses unable to compete against untaxed labor provided by illegal immigrants.

The investigation involved ICE Jacksonville, IRS-CI Tampa Field Office, and the Florida Department of Financial Services. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Cannizzaro prosecuted the case.