Dara Duong, 53, of Lowell was indicted by a Middlesex Grand Jury for three counts of Worker’s Compensation Fraud and two counts of Larceny over $250. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Middlesex Superior Court this Thursday, July 14, 2011.
The AG’s Office says that the allegations against Duong involve his failure to report the actual size and scope of his business operations in order to avoid paying higher premiums. “All employees in Massachusetts have the responsibility of protecting the safety of their employees. We allege that Mr. Duong failed in his duty by knowingly failing to pay the proper amount of worker’s compensation insurance,” explained AG Coakley.
In October 2010, after an initial investigation by the Insurance Fraud Bureau, the Attorney General’s office began an investigation of Duong, who is the owner of three companies based in Lowell: The Middlesex Temporary Agency, Angkor Staffing Inc. and General Labor Services. All three companies provided unskilled labor to client companies.
It is alleged that from 2006 through 2010, Duong intentionally misrepresented the size of his companies’ payroll, the total number of employees, and the number of clients his employees worked for in order to avoid paying higher workman’s compensation premiums to two different insurance companies. As a result, investigators believe he avoided paying approximately $110,000 during a three year policy period.
