District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly & Partners Announce Arrests, Restitution in Labor Fraud Crackdown

Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced charges against four men for allegedly using fraudulent insurance documents to secure home improvement licenses, and since the start of the year has returned nearly $650,000 in stolen wages to Nassau County workers through multiple labor prosecutions. Carrying out DA Donnelly's initiative to target labor crimes, NCDA's Major Financial Frauds Bureau aggressively investigates and prosecutes labor law violations by leveraging resources and close partnerships with multiple state and local agencies. 'Since becoming District Attorney, I have put more resources toward protecting workers and cracking down on anyone trying to cheat the system,' said DA Donnelly. 'Labor crimes strip hard-working employees of basic protections and push innocent families to the brink of financial ruin. This year, working in close collaboration with our labor partners, my prosecutors in the Major Financial Frauds Bureau brought criminal charges against contractors who allegedly lied on applications to get licensed and put hundreds of thousands of dollars in stolen wages back where they belong—in the hands of workers who earned them. I commend the dedication of these teams, and my office will continue to pursue unscrupulous employers who profit by exploiting their workforce.' 'The Nassau County Department of Consumer Affairs remains committed to preventing fraud at any level in the home improvement industry,' said Nassau County Department of Consumer Affairs Commissioner John R. Capece. 'Although Consumer Affairs is not a large agency, with our dedicated staff partnering with the equally dedicated staff of the District Attorney's Office, the public can be assured that our agencies will do what it takes to protect them from fraudulent contractors.' 'Labor Day reminds us that our country relies on workers to function, and that government must hold companies to high standards to protect them,' said New York State Inspector General Lucy Lang. 'I am proud to work alongside our dedicated staff and law enforcement partners to identify and hold accountable anyone whose conduct undermines the integrity of the systems designed to treat workers with safety and dignity.' 'Insurance fraud drives up costs and undermines the integrity of New York's insurance market, and DFS is committed to working alongside our law enforcement partners to hold bad actors accountable,' said New York State Department of Financial Services Acting Superintendent Kaitlin Asrow. 'This collaboration reflects Governor Hochul's ongoing commitment to protecting New Yorkers and keeping insurance costs affordable, and I want to thank the Nassau County District Attorney, the Workers' Compensation Board, and Nassau County Consumer Affairs for their continued partnership." As part of NCDA's ongoing initiative, NCDA, in coordination with the Office of the New York State Workers' Compensation Fraud Inspector General (WCFIG), the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS), and Nassau County Consumer Affairs (NCCA), began an investigation into applications that were submitted to NCCA for home improvement contractor licenses. On September 2, 2026, four defendants and their companies were charged with submitting fraudulent workers' compensation insurance certificates and other documents to NCCA to illegally obtain contractor licenses between June 2025 and March 2026. DA Donnelly said that, according to the multi-agency investigation, the documents allegedly contained altered policy expiration dates to reflect active insurance coverage, insurance policy numbers and addresses belonging to other companies, or coverage information that was false and simply did not exist. As a result of the investigation, all four contractor applications for residential construction licenses were denied by NCCA. Defendants: Fabio Salazar, 52, of Maspeth, owner of Always First Restoration LLC in Queens, was charged with four counts of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree (a D felony); four counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree (an E felony); and Effect of Failure to Secure Compensation under the New York Workers' Compensation Law (a misdemeanor). Michael Kaffash, 40, of Woodmere, owner of Kingspoint Builders LLC in Hempstead, was charged with Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree (a D felony); Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree (an E felony); and Effect of Failure to Secure Compensation under the New York Workers' Compensation Law (a misdemeanor). Jonathan Mendel, 45, of Cedarhurst, owner of JRM Development LLC in Lawrence, was charged with two counts of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree (a D felony); two counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree (an E felony); and Effect of Failure to Secure Compensation under the New York Workers' Compensation Law (a misdemeanor). James Fernandes, 39, of Carle Place, owner of Braga Industries, Inc. in Carle Place, was charged with Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree (an E felony); and Effect of Failure to Secure Compensation under the New York Workers' Compensation Law (a misdemeanor). The defendants pleaded not guilty and were released on their own recognizance. If convicted, Salazar, Kaffash, and Mendel face up to 2-1/3 to 7 years in prison and Fernandes faces up to 1 to 4 years in prison. DA Donnelly's Major Financial Frauds Bureau also continued its crackdown on wage theft, aggressively prosecuting several companies and their owners for stealing workers' earnings and violating prevailing wage laws. As a result, NCDA and its partners in labor successfully returned nearly $650,000 to 138 Nassau County workers this year. In June 2026, after a joint investigation between NCDA and the U.S. Department of Labor, NCDA obtained more than $435,000 in unpaid wages that defendant Richard Scores owed to 38 employees, ending his eight-year effort to evade financial accountability to his victims. Richard Scores, owner of Westbury Fish, pleaded guilty on January 18, 2017, to Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree (an E felony); and Failure to Pay Wages under the New York State Labor Law (a violation). He was sentenced to probation and ordered to make restitution to his employees, as well as pay nearly $24,000 to the New York State Department of Labor for unpaid Unemployment Insurance contributions. For several years, Scores violated that court order and refused to make restitution. Through continuous efforts to compel payment, NCDA took action against Scores' assets to finally satisfy the outstanding judgement and force full payment of restitution to his workers. NCDA's labor crime attorneys also resolved two cases with non-prosecution agreements, accelerating restitution for underpaid workers. On June 4, 2026, NCDA secured the repayment of more than $60,000 to 30 construction workers after a company failed to pay them time-and-a-half for overtime work. Additionally, on June 16, 2026, a contractor business paid $35,000 to 25 employees after NCDA found it failed to pay workers the proper prevailing wage rate on multiple projects across Nassau County. NCDA's Major Financial Frauds Bureau also secured multiple guilty pleas in labor prosecutions that ensured workers received money that they were owed and that companies were held accountable. On January 22, 2026, Jason Sichel and Neil Sims, co-owners of Timeless Body II, LLC, a medspa in Garden City that provides surgical and non-surgical cosmetic procedures, pleaded guilty to Failure to Pay Wages under the New York State Labor Law (a misdemeanor) and were each sentenced to fines of $5,000. The corporation, Timeless Body II, LLC, pleaded guilty to Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree (an E felony); and Willful Failure to Pay Contributions to the Fund (a misdemeanor). The defendants failed to pay five employees for their work at the medspa, failed to register with the New York State Department of Labor, and failed to contribute to the fund for Unemployment Insurance. They were ordered to repay wages and, in total, have paid $35,869 in restitution to workers. Joseph Demasco, 67, pleaded guilty on March 14, 2025, to Labor Law § 220(3)(d)(i)(2) Failure to Pay the Prevailing Wage (an E felony). On January 20, 2026, Demasco, owner of BJA Renovations Corp. of North Babylon, was ordered to pay back $81,592 in prevailing wages owed to more than 40 employees for public works projects at schools in the Merrick and Oceanside Union Free School Districts between 2019 and 2021. NCDA thanks NCCA, WCFIG, DFS, the New York State Department of Labor, the U.S. Department of Labor, and the New York State Insurance Fund for their assistance in the investigation and prosecution of these cases. The Sichel and Sims case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Taylor Cain of the Major Financial Frauds Bureau under the supervision of Bureau Chief Maureen McCormack, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for the Investigations Division Nicholas Mauro. The BJA Renovations Corp. case was prosecuted by Attorney-in-Charge of Labor Crimes Richard Balletta of the Major Financial Frauds Bureau's Crimes Against Revenue Unit, under the supervision of Bureau Chief Maureen McCormack and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for the Investigations Division Nicholas Mauro. The Salazar, Kaffash, Mendel, and Fernandes cases are being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Taylor Cain of the Major Financial Frauds Bureau under the supervision of Bureau Chief Maureen McCormack, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for the Investigations Division Nicholas Mauro. Salazar & Always First Restoration LLC were represented at arraignment by Bill Riggin, Esq. Kaffash & Kingspoint Builders LLC are represented by Matin Emouna, Esq. Mendel & JRM Development LLC are represented by Gedalia Stern, Esq. Fernandes & Braga Industries Inc. were represented at arraignment by Bill Riggin, Esq. The charges are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless found guilty. NCDA's Major Financial Frauds Bureau conducts long-term investigations and prosecutes complex financial schemes. Its specially trained assistant district attorneys, investigative auditors, and investigators focus their efforts on cases such as the financial exploitation of senior citizens, identity theft, advance fee frauds, investments scams, real estate and deed fraud, attorney misappropriation of escrow funds fraud, embezzlement from both large corporations and small businesses, and bank, check, and credit card fraud rings.