A Houston manufacturer will pay $250,000 in restitution to Texas Mutual Insurance Co. after pleading guilty to workers’ compensation premium fraud, the state Department of Insurance announced Tuesday.

An investigation by the Division of Workers’ Compensation revealed that Alpha Mar’s John Stergiou concealed payroll and misrepresented the number of employees at the company in order to obtain lower premiums.

“When companies commit premium or payroll fraud, they can put their employees' coverage at risk,” said Debra Knight, DWC’s deputy commissioner of compliance and investigations. “It gives dishonest companies a business advantage over ethical companies that are paying the full cost of their premiums.”

The DWC’s prosecution unit, which is embedded in the Travis County District Attorney’s Office in Austin, obtained the conviction after an investigation that spanned four years, the Insurance Department said.