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Manchester drywaller jailed for under-the-table payroll scheme
/0 Comments/in News /by IKORCCMANCHESTER, N.H. – A city dry-wall contractor was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison and ordered to pay the Internal Revenue Service more than $780,000 for his role in an under-the-table payroll scheme.
Cruz E. Galvan, 39, who operated Four Star Drywall, was ordered to pay the IRS restitution totalling $786,553. Authorities said he had paid $100,000 of that amount several weeks before being sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court.
According to U.S. Attorney Emily Gray Rice, Galvan pleaded guilty to one count of federal employment tax evasion, admitting to a scheme to dodge payment of federal employment taxes on wages he paid to his employees.
During his plea hearing, Galvan admitted that from April 2010 until December 2012 he paid employees with vouchers instead of with checks. The employees were then instructed to present the vouchers to a local check-cashing business to which Galvan had previously provided funds with instructions to pay the vouchers in cash.
He acknowledged he did not report the wages he paid to the IRS, evading federal income tax withholding and Social Security, Medicare and federal unemployment taxes.
Immigration proceedings are underway to deport Galvan, who authorities say is in the country illegally, after he serves his sentence.
City police, the IRS, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, investigated the case, which was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Morse.
Source: Union Leader
Carpenters assemble Valentine’s Day care packages for US Military
/0 Comments/in News /by IKORCCEarlier this year, Brenda Bishop Young of Buckeye Military Families reached out to Local 200 regarding its third annual Operation Sharing Hearts project. The project focuses on assembling and sending 50 Valentine’s-themed care packages to service members who are deployed and stationed overseas.
In addition to presenting Buckeye Military Families with a $500 donation, five Local 200 members and their families were more than happy to assist with Operation Sharing Hearts and dedicated a Saturday and a total of 20 volunteer hours to the project. Assembled at the Local 200 office, eachcare package contained Valentine’s Day cards, candy, batteries, sports and auto magazines, toiletries and small Valentine’s Day cakes.
“I have to thank Local 200 for the use of their office – the facility was perfect for our event,” commented Bishop Young. “The help we received from their members was so awesome! They jumped in and made us feel right at home. I know this is a long-standing relationship we can look forward to in years to come.”
Michael Freeman, IKORCC Representative and Local 200 Recording Secretary and Political Advisor, commented, “We have four veterans in our Columbus office. Having served in the military, it makes me so proud to be involved with an organization that truly cares about our nation’s heroes – veterans and active duty alike. Being stationed away from family and friends can be very tough, and we know how much a small gesture like these care packages will be appreciated. They’re also a small token of our appreciation for everything our military does for our country.”
Buckeye Military Families is the Ohio chapter of Semper-Fi Sisters, which consists of individuals with a loved one who served or is currently serving in the military. Their mission is to support the families of those currently serving, the service member themselves and Ohio veterans.
Avoid the perp, walk: workers’ comp. premium fraud
/0 Comments/in News /by IKORCC“There are a few basic types of employer workers’ comp fraud, with diverse variations stemming from those few types.
“One instance of fraud involves paying employees cash off the books so that the amount of payroll on which premiums are calculated is reduced, thereby reducing premiums.”
“Along those same lines are cases when employers intentionally misclassify employees as independent contractors.”
“Yet another common scheme is using shell companies, or companies set up for the sole purpose of paying employees without paying workers’ comp insurance and other benefits or taxes. This can be a company that the employer sets up himself or a third party who poses as a single-man operation with minimal insurance and minimal paperwork — just enough to avoid raising questions during an insurance premium audit.”
“Perhaps the strongest enforcement assets are contractors themselves.
‘”When you get burned on a job, and you didn’t get the award because somebody’s doing it for a price you know they can’t, (other employers) just turn them in,” [Mark] Sierra [construction insurance expert and consultant] said. “Then the state has people that go out on job sites and inspect them. So, yes, the competition definitely helps police it.”
[William] Canak [professor, Middle Tennessee State University] added, “At a national level over the last decade, there’s been much greater recognition that there are a lot of people breaking the rules and that it negatively affects the proper functioning of the marketplace for employers and employees. It harms the community, it harms the workers and it harms law-abiding employers. So we’re seeing these initiatives roll out, and that’s good. It can’t all happen at once, but we’re making a lot of progress.”’
Construction Dive, January 26, 2016
Engels on Transition Team
/0 Comments/in News /by IKORCCJon Bel Edwards was elected Governor of Louisiana. He appointed Executive Secretary-Treasurer Jason Engels to his economic development transition team. The team will make recommendations on job training and workforce development. Recently, Jason appeared on New Orleans News 8 in a three-part series exposing payroll fraud in the Louisiana construction industry.
Cash Pay Schemes Spreading
/0 Comments/in News /by IKORCCFlorida is not the only state seeing check cashers and contractors conspiring to pay workers off-the-books. A bar owner in the Bronx and a pawn shop owner in New Jersey were arrested after a Port Authority and Manhattan DA investigation into contractors underreporting payroll. Contractors’ workers were paid in cash to evade paying taxes and workers’ compensation premiums. The defendants are accused of cashing almost $17 million in checks for 19 businesses from 2012 to 2014.
According to court papers, a contractor brought a $149,250 check to the bar and received $141,787. The check was then brought to the pawn shop where it was deposited for $147,011 in cash which was brought back to the bar.