Summary

On March 29, 2012, Gary Bauerly, owner and operator of WATAB Hauling, was charged in a criminal complaint by the Hennepin County Attorney's Office, Minneapolis, Minnesota, with theft by swindle for willfully circumventing prevailing wage rates.  

Mr. Bauerly submitted fraudulent documents to obtain payments as a subcontractor and employed a series of schemes to avoid paying prevailing wages owed to WATAB employees, totaling approximately $52,000.  Mr. Bauerly provided fraudulent information to general contractors and contract administrators for federally-funded municipal, county, and state contracts.  The contracts specified employees must be paid according to the prevailing wage rate in the area.  Mr. Bauerly implemented various schemes to avoid paying the prevailing wage rate, including, providing false payroll reports to the contractors and government contract administrators.  

This investigation was conducted jointly with the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Hennepin County Attorney's Office.  

Note:  Indictments, informations, and criminal complaints are only accusations by the Government.  All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.