Press Release
POMPANO-BASED CONSTRUCTION COMPANY OWNERS CHARGED WITH TAX AND MAIL FRAUD CONSPIRACY IN LABOR SCHEME
October 30, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Michael E. Yasofsky, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, and Richard Walker, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations, announced the unsealing of a criminal Information, charging two South Florida men with a tax and mail fraud conspiracy to evade federal payroll taxes and workers' compensation insurance premiums for off-the-books construction worker employees, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371. The case will be heard before United States District Judge Patricia A. Seitz (Case No. 08-20911-CR-SEITZ).
According to the charges, from approximately December 2001 to August 2007, defendant Mario Turcotte was the owner of Powertech Interiors, Inc., a drywall installation and cabinetry company, located at 560 S.W. 12th Avenue, Pompano Beach, FL. Defendant Daniel Paul O'Brien was a partner in Powertech. The Information alleges that defendants Turcotte and O'Brien maintained certain Powertech employees "off-the-books," and paid their wages in cash, thus under-reporting the company's taxable wages. By under-reporting taxable wages, the defendants underpaid the actual employment taxes due and owing to the IRS. In addition, the defendants evaded paying workers' compensation insurance for Powertech's "off-the-books" employees by mailing the under-reported payroll figures to its insurance carrier, which used these fraudulent payroll figures to assess a lower insurance premium for Powertech.
If convicted, the defendants each face a maximum term of imprisonment of five years and a $100,000 fine. Both defendants will have an initial appearance before a United States Magistrate Judge on October 30, 2008, at 1:30 p.m.
U.S. Attorney Acosta stated, "Construction work is an inherently dangerous occupation. Many workers are injured on work sites each day. In this case, the defendants deliberately kept workers "off- the-books" to avoid having to pay additional payroll taxes and higher insurance premiums. This conduct is illegal, and potentially left workers uninsured and unprotected."
Special Agent in Charge Michael E. Yasofsky of the IRS' Criminal Investigation Division, stated, "Paying employees in cash in order to evade payroll taxes is a violation of federal law. This type of crime results in serious consequences, including loss of tax revenue to the U.S. government and loss of future social security or Medicare benefits for employees. We will continue to aggressively investigate those individuals who do not comply with the employment tax laws."
Mr. Acosta commended the investigative efforts of the Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigation Division and the Department of Labor's Office of Inspector General. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey E. Tsai.
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Information (PDF)
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
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