Richard Copeland, owner of contracting and roofing company Copeland Contracting Inc. (CCI), was indicted yesterday for failing to pay approximately $119,000 in workers’ compensation insurance.

Copeland was formally charged by a Suffolk County Grand Jury with 20 counts of unemployment fraud, four counts of larceny over $250, 60 counts of aiding or assisting in fraudulent tax returns, and three counts of workers’ compensation fraud.

According to authorities, during the period of November 2003, through January 2008, Copeland held workers’ compensation policies with three different insurance companies. During that time, Copeland allegedly avoided paying the proper premium for these policies by misclassifying the type of work his employees performed.

Authorities also allege that Copeland filed false unemployment contribution reports with the Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) by misrepresenting the number of employees he had in his company for each quarter for approximately five years.  By falsely reporting the number of his employees to the DUA, Copeland allegedly did not pay approximately $27,000 in mandatory unemployment contribution fees. 

Copeland also allegedly falsified the company’s tax returns by failing to withhold state and federal income tax from all of his employees.  Investigators discovered that not only did Copeland allegedly fail to report an accurate payroll, but he also paid many of his employees in cash. 

He is scheduled to be arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court on April 29.