After more than doubling company revenue from 2016 to 2017, Richard and Rice Construction is ready to dominate the industry once again. The company was founded in 2004, but nearly shut down through no fault of their own. In January of 2016, owners Gaetan Richard and Murray Rice were surprised and shocked when their Deerfield Beach offices were raided. The raid, seizure, and arrests took place before the government had examined their computers, cell phones, and office files and documents. Richard, Rice, and four other colleagues were taken into custody on suspicion of workers compensation fraud. Their pictures were plastered on local newspapers and TV.
Richard & Rice immediately proclaimed their innocence and would later learn that the actions of a sub-contractor is what roped them into the mess. Richard & Rice Construction and its owners had no reason to believe there was any wrongdoing and believed the sub-contractors they were working with were following all laws. As it turned out, the sub-contractor had been caught in workers compensation fraud and mislead the police into believing Richard & Rice had knowledge of this, when in fact they did not.