WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — A multi-agency task force dismantled a massive, family-run criminal enterprise operating out of a West Palm Beach shopping plaza after a lengthy undercover investigation Thursday that allegedly laundered millions of dollars through the local construction industry.
The operation, based out of MLS Paralegal Services, used a network of fake “shell” companies to run a sophisticated workers’ compensation and money laundering scheme that handled more than $12.5 million in hidden cash, according to an arrest affidavit filed in Palm Beach County Circuit Court.
The Scam
Investigators with the Broward Sheriff’s Office Money Laundering Task Force and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office named 36-year-old Marlen Suazo Gutierrez as the head of the operation. Detectives say the group specialized in a lucrative fraud scheme known as “certificate renting,” which exploits state insurance laws
In Florida, construction companies are legally required to carry workers’ compensation insurance to cover medical bills and lost wages if a worker is injured on the job. Because this insurance is expensive, in 2021, the suspects allegedly bought bare-minimum “ghost” policies, telling officials that they only employed a couple of office workers.
Once they had the official insurance certificate, the group “rented” it out to actual, uninsured subcontractors for a fee. This allowed those subcontractors to show a piece of paper and gain access to major commercial job sites illegally, while the masterminds pocketed the rental fees and hid the workforce from state regulators…