Construction Firm Owner Pleads Guilty to $600K Workers’ Compensation Fraud

www.Insurancejournal.com, December 4, 2025

The owner of an iron and erection construction company was sentenced this week for underreporting payroll to avoid paying $600,000 in workers’ compensation policy premiums.

According to Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly, business owner Mahendranauth Khargie of Rockville Centre and his company, GC Stud Inc., of Queens, pleaded guilty to insurance fraud in October. GC Stud, Inc. also pleaded guilty to a violation of the New York’s workers’ compensation law.

Kargie was sentenced to a conditional discharge and made a full restitution payment of $625,000 to the New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF). If Khargie had failed to pay the restitution for the lost premiums in full, he faced a prison sentence of two to six years.

“This company underreported millions of dollars of payroll, allowing them to dodge $600,000 in insurance premiums that every other honest employer has to pay,” said Donnelly.

“The restitution paid should serve as a deterrent to any business attempting to cheat the workers’ compensation system,” said NYSIF Executive Director and CEO Gaurav Vasisht. Continue article