South Florida brothers deny charges of wire fraud,
conspiracy for lowballing public housing labor estimates
Florida Construction News staff writer
Two brothers who run a South
Florida construction company say
they will fight charges that they
low-balled labor estimates on bids
to scoop up Miami-Dade County
public housing contracts.
Javier Estepa and Diego Estepa
Vazquez have been charged with
wire fraud conspiracy and wire
fraud, according to a grand jury in-
dictment issued in June.
Their attorneys have denied the
allegations. View a copy of the indictment
here. “At trial we will not only demon-
strate the company’s (Aaron Con-
struction) integrity but will show the
efforts the company undertook for
the protection of the subcontractors
who associated with them,” Neil
Taylor, Estepa’s attorney of the Law
Offices of Neil G. Taylor in Coral
Gables, said in an emailed state-
ment. “The indictment is a rush to
judgment conclusion by the govern-
ment and we are very confident a
jury will exonerate both Javier and
Diego Estepa.”
Susy Ribero-Ayala, Vazquez’s at-
torney of The Law Office of Susy
Ribero-Ayala in Coral Gables, also
denied the allegations.
The two underreported the num-
ber of workers on a project, falsified
the number of hours worked and
falsely stated they would have no
subcontractors working on a project
to land public contracts and profit
from repair work on low-income
housing managed by the county’s
Public Housing and Community De-
velopment program, the indictment
alleges. PHCD, which receives federal
money, is one of the largest hous-
ing agencies in the U.S. that pro-
vides Section 8 rent subsidies and
manages low-income public hous-
ing, according to its website.
The indictment charged the false
bid information allowed Aaron Con-
struction to list lower costs when
applying for repair contracts
through the competitive bid
process. The lower employee headcount
and the fewer work hours that they
reported allowed them to “artifi-
cially lower company costs, includ-
ing workers’ compensation
insurance premiums and payroll
taxes, thereby enabling Estepa and
Vazquez to submit false and fraudu-
lent low-ball bids for PHCD work,”
the indictment said.
The county awards its repair con-
tracts to the lowest bidders as long
as they meets other terms and con-
ditions. If convicted, each could face up
to 20 years in prison, a $250,000
fine and restitution.
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www.cadcr.com Florida Construction News — SUMMER 2018 – 7