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The owner of a construction company has been indicted after stiffing ten of his former employees who’d been working on an Upper West Side building for about five months, Manhattan D.A. Bragg has announced.
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The employees were non-native English speakers and recent immigrants.
“As alleged, Kendis Paul stole thousands of dollars in wages from employees who dedicated hours of labor to a construction project. The victims repeatedly asked the defendant for their wages, yet, we allege, they were never made whole,” said District Attorney Bragg. “Workers deserve to be fairly compensated for their labor, and our Office will continue to prosecute those who take advantage of their employees. This is an ongoing investigation – I urge any other KEP employees who have been exploited to contact our Office at (646) 712-0298.”
The company was hired to do work on several buildings as a subcontractor, and according to the D.A.’s office, was paid more than $1.3 million for the work.
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Between September 2023 and February 2024, Paul reportedly gave his employees “paychecks that later bounced, refused to pay them overtime, and, in some instances, failed to pay their wages altogether,” the D.A.’s report states. These employees are owed wages ranging from $2,600 to $11,000, totaling approximately $67,275.
The employees sent repeated texts asking for their money.
“In February 2023, District Attorney Bragg launched the Office’s first Worker Protection Unit to investigate and prosecute wage theft and other forms of worker exploitation across Manhattan. The Unit pursues criminal charges against individuals and corporations that jeopardize their workers’ safety and steal their wages. The Unit also enforces workplace safety labor laws, incorporating the work of the Office’s Construction Fraud Task Force, and pursues criminal charges when an employer creates dangerous or deadly work environments.”
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