NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A pair of longtime New York City contractors, who are brothers, pleaded guilty Friday to evading more than $1 million in insurance premiums by misclassifying workers for financial gain, the Manhattan DA’s office announced.
Nicholas Dragonetti, 49, and Vito Dragonetti, 53, each pleaded guilty to offering a false instrument for filing, and their companies, Dragonetti Brothers Landscaping and D.B. Demolition, pleaded guilty to insurance fraud between 2017 and 2019.
Since 1998, the Long Island brothers have secured more than 100 city contracts for park landscaping and maintenance, as well as for sidewalk reconstruction and pedestrian crosswalk ramp construction, according to the DA’s office.
These “higher-risk” jobs typically require workers to use heavy machinery to demolish and replace pavement and ramps, and accordingly, a higher workers’ compensation insurance classification.
The duo bid on and won contracts for excavation, sidewalk reconstruction and pedestrian ramp replacement for residential blocks throughout the city, totaling millions of dollars, while falsely classifying 217 laborers, foremen and heavy-equipment operators as florists, office workers or sales representatives.
“Workers doing dangerous work should be afforded every protection possible, yet these city contractors misclassified their employees for financial gain,” said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. “As a result, they put their workers…
