Investigator Poses as Contractor to Make Fraud Arrest
When Suffolk County Insurance Crimes Unit investigators were unsuccessful in several attempts to contact Kerry Kirk Mohommed, one of the investigators posed as a contractor and invited Mohommed to give him an estimate on a flooring job.
Mohommed showed up May 20th to make the estimate and quickly arrested for felony workers’ compensation fraud.
About three years ago the 62-year-old Mohommed, a resident of Jamaica, Queens and the owner of two Richmond Hill flooring businesses gave two New York State Insurance Fund certificates of insurance to a NYSIF-insured contractor. One for KBF Interior Design and another for K Brothers Flooring. The contractor retained both companies.
It turned out both certificates were forgeries and neither of the companies had workers’ comp.
“People can learn a very important lesson from this case,”; said NYSIF Executive Director/CEO David P. Wehner. Contractors and home owners often overlook the importance of getting and then verifying certificates and not doing so can be costly.”;
He said verifications can easily be made by visiting NYSIF online.
The false certificates cost the policyholder to pay an additional $7,324 in premium.
Source: New York State Insurance Fund.