EAST PROVIDENCE – A local contractor has been charged with stealing more than $93,000 in wages from workers on a Woonsocket school construction project, the R.I. Attorney General’s Office said on Wednesday.
Marcos Mutz, owner of the now-defunct M. Mutz Construction, is accused of failing to fully pay 12 former workers for work they performed during the construction and renovation of RISE Prep Mayoral Academy in Woonsocket between September 2018 and October 2019. During that time, M. Mutz Construction performed work as a subcontractor under Case Construction Co., the construction manager of the project.
Mutz allegedly paid workers $30 per hour, instead of the required $52 per hour, and pocketed the difference. Investigators from the R.I. Department of Labor and Training also found workers weren’t paid overtime after 40 hours.
Mutz now faces one count of obtaining money under false pretenses over $1,500, one count of unlawful appropriation over $1,000, one count of providing false certified payroll documents and 12 misdemeanor counts of wage theft.
Mutz is scheduled for a pretrial conference on May 24 in Providence County Superior Court.
(UPDATE: Clarifies that announcement made by R.I. attorney general’s office and corrects photo caption.)
