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La Barbeque Owners Indicted - Insurance Fraud

torre

By torre
in Food and Travel

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Chewbacca

Chewbacca 7767

Posted
Posted
53 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

In a much earlier stage in my career, I pursued civil workers comp insurance premium fraud cases (e.g., a shell company with 3 office employees would be set up -- all those jobs have low risk ratings, and the number of employees was low, which meant cheap premium).  Then the "subsidiary" of that shell -- which was a building contractor with 50 employees who climbed scaffolding and worked with saws and shit -- would use that certificate of insurance to represent that it had comp coverage so it could get jobs.  There actually is exposure to the insurance co to cover those other 50 people, so they would sue for the back premium.

The folks we sued always thought they were being super-clever, and had spotted a fool-proof loophole.

They weren't, and they hadn't.

Trying to pull one over on a company with assets in the hundreds of millions is usually a bad idea.

Back in my construction days I had many arguments with workers comp premium assessing people.  They always wanted to put people into higher risk categories than they should be (wanted to put Superintendents into the same category as carpenters, for example).  It was ridiculous.

18 minutes ago, Sbbruin said:

Yeah, but a business like this is not like those.

Yeah, BBQ trailer is not quite the same as a Fortune 500 company.

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HouTex

HouTex 1866

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Posted

I wonder how much workers' comp insurance costs for a BBQ joint?  They apparently could afford it when they got the back-dated policy.  I can't imagine workers' comp for a BBQ joint is very expensive.  Unless they are operating a deli slicer, and those seem fairly safe these days, we are talking about minor cuts and slip and falls.

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deadshank

deadshank 24652

Posted
Posted (edited)
29 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

Back in my construction days I had many arguments with workers comp premium assessing people.  They always wanted to put people into higher risk categories than they should be (wanted to put Superintendents into the same category as carpenters, for example).  It was ridiculous.

 

The standard scam is to get inexpensive clerical staff covered with WC so the construction trade can send out the insurance certificate that indicates WC coverage.  That works until an employee that actually does the construction work gets hurt.  Texas Mutual will most likely cover that employee's claim and then audit the payroll of the company.  Upon audit they will present a hefty invoice for additional premium due.

If one employee is covered with WC then all employee's payroll will be picked up on audit.  You can't cover just one classification or a particular few classifications and not cover others; especially the high premium classifications.

End of policy term audits will typically sniff out the cheaters when a company has to present their 941 filings and Texas Workforce Commission quarterly filings as back up data.

Edited by deadshank
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Chewbacca

Chewbacca 7767

Posted
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4 minutes ago, deadshank said:

The standard scam is to get inexpensive clerical staff covered with WC so the construction trade can send out the insurance certificate that indicates WC coverage.  That works until an employee that actually does the construction work gets hurt.  Texas Mutual will most likely cover that employee's claim and then audit the payroll of the company.  Upon audit they will present a hefty invoice for additional premium due.

If one employee is covered with WC then all employee's payroll will be picked up on audit.  You can't cover just one classification or a particular few classifications and not cover others; especially the high premium classifications.

End of policy term audits will typically sniff out the cheaters when a company has to present their 941 filings and Texas Workforce Commission quarterly filings as back up data.

Right, these conversations I would have happened at the premium audits.  We always had appropriate coverage, we just argued about how certain positions should be rated.

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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 105064

Posted
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4 minutes ago, deadshank said:

The standard scam is to get inexpensive clerical staff covered with WC so the construction trade can send out the insurance certificate that indicates WC coverage.  That works until an employee that actually does the construction work gets hurt.  Texas Mutual will most likely cover that employee's claim and then audit the payroll of the company.  Upon audit they will present a hefty invoice for additional premium due.

If one employee is covered with WC then all employee's payroll will be picked up on audit.  You can't cover just one classification or a particular few classifications and not cover others; especially the high premium classifications.

End of policy term audits will typically sniff out the cheaters when a company has to present their 941 filings and Texas Workforce Commission quarterly filings as back up data.

Bingo.  Those were the EXACT kind of cases I handled.  A lot of them tried to cover it up with shell companies, "employee leasing companies," all that stuff back in the day.  None of it worked well for them.

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Texas St. Armadillos

Texas St. Armadillos 1381

Posted
Posted
39 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

Back in my construction days I had many arguments with workers comp premium assessing people.  They always wanted to put people into higher risk categories than they should be (wanted to put Superintendents into the same category as carpenters, for example).  It was ridiculous.

Yeah, BBQ trailer is not quite the same as a Fortune 500 company.

In the Mueller family though, the amounts they pay in taxes are similar.

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Reagan1k

Reagan1k 3024

Posted
Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

Bingo.  Those were the EXACT kind of cases I handled.  A lot of them tried to cover it up with shell companies, "employee leasing companies," all that stuff back in the day.  None of it worked well for them.

You don't play accounting poker with worker's comp or payroll taxes.  Quick way to find yourself in a shitstorm of financial and legal trouble.

Edited by Reagan1k
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DalTxHornFan

DalTxHornFan 3097

Posted
Posted
On 12/11/2022 at 4:37 PM, RMac5 said:

Is the insurance fraud case still ongoing? Be interesting to see how this plays out.

Yes.  The matter still seems to be pending in Travis County 147th District Court (criminal court).  The next event on the docket is a pre-trial hearing in January.

Case number is D-1-DC-22-904030.  The wheels of justice grind slowly.

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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 105064

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48 minutes ago, Steel Shank said:

The Shady Grove Peanut Butter Ice Box pie kicked a whole lot of ass.

As did their chocolate icebox pie.  Best version of it I ever had.  Also loved their burger.  And the catfish con queso.  And the meatloaf.  And the hippie sandwich.

Goddamn you, Shank.  Gonna make me all sad before Christmas.

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Steel Shank

Steel Shank 9421

Posted
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9 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

As did their chocolate icebox pie.  Best version of it I ever had.  Also loved their burger.  And the catfish con queso.  And the meatloaf.  And the hippie sandwich.

Goddamn you, Shank.  Gonna make me all sad before Christmas.

Don't forget the comely waitresses.

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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 105064

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Posted
Just now, DallasSooner said:

Is this the place that had queso catfish?

Yep.  Seriously, was one of our go-to family places forever.  It's one of the "lost Austin" places we still miss the most.  Never had anything there we didn't like (hell, when we were trying to be healthy, they even had an amazing grilled veggie plate that was good, and my wife is a hot dog fan and loved their chili dog).  Shot the shit at dinner with Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison when we each had a kid in a high chair (same age, we were even at the hospital at delivery at the same time).  Great patio.  Just a damned good place.

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jimmyjazz

jimmyjazz 45887

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9 minutes ago, utee94 said:

Loved that place.  I'm a pretty vocal critic of the "Old Austin is Dying" crowd, since I've lived here my entire life and I've seen at least ten different versions of "Old Austin" come and go.

But that's a place I really miss.

We used to take my parents there when they would visit from Missouri.  To say they weren't exactly the target demographic for Shady Grove would be an understatement, but they absolutely loved it.  I think the kitsch reminded them of that sort of mid-century motel we always seemed to find on family trips.  Mom always got veggies and onion rings, and dad got the Airstream chili.

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futureman

futureman 22444

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1 hour ago, utee94 said:

Loved that place.  I'm a pretty vocal critic of the "Old Austin is Dying" crowd, since I've lived here my entire life and I've seen at least ten different versions of "Old Austin" come and go.

old austin peaked around 2003, about when I got here.  it's been downhill ever since...

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TonyTexas

TonyTexas 10506

Posted
Posted
On 12/13/2022 at 8:25 AM, Armybrat said:

Just kidding. 
We have family ties with both businesses.

Last time we saw John was at his mom’s memorial gathering catered by his sister in Taylor.

(John standing in the background)

 

AEDC0B56-8FD6-4DDC-9C6A-C6870E59D8FA.jpeg

 

So John wears shorts to his mom’s memorial?  Nothing but class. 

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C-Man

C-Man 27187

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15 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

As did their chocolate icebox pie.  Best version of it I ever had.  Also loved their burger.  And the catfish con queso.  And the meatloaf.  And the hippie sandwich.

Goddamn you, Shank.  Gonna make me all sad before Christmas.

Get it right dammit. It was the Tortilla Fried Queso Catfish and it was fucking glorious.

Used to go there all the time as a student from 1991-96. I think half our fraternity worked there as servers. Drank many a Shady Thang on that patio.

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deadshank

deadshank 24652

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38 minutes ago, Hornbeliever said:

I bought a condo at Barton Place (rt behind Shady Grove) when it first opened and loved taking dates to SG on Thu nights for live music.  Easy reason to ask/get them to your place on first date and drinks outside got them in 'good' mood.

So did the unit you bought with the basement pay off?

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Your Mom

Your Mom 4805

Posted
Posted
On 12/15/2022 at 8:25 AM, Hornbeliever said:

I bought a condo at Barton Place (rt behind Shady Grove) when it first opened and loved taking dates to SG on Thu nights for live music.  Easy reason to ask/get them to your place on first date and drinks outside got them in 'good' mood.

I used to live in that old rundown apartment complex behind Chuy’s right next to Barton Place. Similar stories as you but more of the low-budget version… both the apartment and the women that came over after drinks.  That place was a dump but also a goldmine in its own way back when Tinder was just getting going. 

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