A Massachusetts couple was charged for workers’ compensation fraud and other schemes to defraud the U.S. government and a mortgage lender.
Ronaldo and Adriana Solano were indicted by a federal grand jury on March 13, 2024 with one count each of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and one count each of conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud.
Ronaldo Solano is facing additional charges of one count of mail fraud and one count of wire fraud.
If found guilty, the mail and wire fraud charges could result in a sentence of no more than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. A sentence for wire and bank fraud charges could lead to a sentence of no more than 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a $1 million fine.
They underreported payroll, used shell company to pay workers
The Solanos are accused of underreporting the payroll of their businesses, H&R Roofing & Construction Inc. and H&R Roofing & Siding Corp., to avoid more than $627,000 in workers’ compensation insurance premiums. They allegedly underreported payroll from 2012 to 2020 and used a shell company to pay workers to further avoid paying higher premiums.
They are also accused of submitting a loan application to the U.S. Small Business Administration under the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program, a program for pandemic relief under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act.
In their application, the Solanos allegedly requested $2 million in relief funds. After receiving the funds, they transferred $1 million to a personal bank account and used $825,000 for a down payment on a home.
They allegedly borrowed another $770,500 from a mortgage lender for the home while failing to disclose that they were using EIDL funds for the down payment.