Indian-origin contractor charged with fleecing workers during construction projects in US

An Indian-origin man has been indicted for failing to pay his workers more than USD 1.5 million in prevailing wages and scheme to defraud and other crimes for underpaying employees assigned to work on public works projects in New York City public schools.

Jagdeep Deol, 36, of Queens and his company Laser Electrical Contracting have been charged in a 66-count indictment.

He was arraigned before Queens Supreme Court Justice Barry Kron. Deol has been ordered to return to court in April and if convicted, faces a minimum of probation to up to 15 years in prison, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said.

From 2014 through 2018, Deol and his company had contracts with the New York City School Construction Authority and the New York City Department of Education worth millions to do electrical work in City schools. He failed to pay at least 11 employees the proper prevailing wage totalling more than USD 1.5 million.

In February 2018, a number of employees reported that they had allegedly been underpaid. An investigation followed with reviews of payroll records and interviews with employees. It was determined that the workers' checks were missing a sum totalling more than USD 1.5 million.

"This business owner allegedly bilked his hard-working employees out of more than USD 1.5 million in wages. Thanks to a number of employees coming forward to report the alleged wrong-doing, the matter was investigated and 11 workers in all were allegedly cheated. The defendant will be held accountable for this alleged malfeasance, Katz said.