Owners of MA Temp Agency Indicted

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The owners of a temporary agency the operated under four company names in Massachusetts and New Hampshire have been indicted for paying workers under-the-table more than $11 million to reduce the number of employees they listed on IRS paperwork.

After an investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office and the IRS Criminal Division, Huong Le and Tien Chau, both of Massachusetts and the owners of four temporary agencies, were indicted on Wednesday on charges of conspiring to defraud the government, failing to pay employment taxes and obstructing the Internal Revenue Laws.

Federal officials allege Le and Chau operated businesses under the names of : Central Boston Staffing Services, Metro Boston Staffing Services, General Staffing Inc. and Kim’s Staffing Inc. Le and Chau allegedly used family members and other individuals as nominees to conceal their ownership of the business.

The indictment alleges that from 2006 through 2011, Le and Chau conspired to conceal their agency’s total number of employees from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to lower their employment tax liabilities. The also allegedly attempted to hide the size of their workforce from the IRS by paying most of their employees cash under the table and filing of false employment tax returns that both under reported the number of their employees and did not report wages paid in cash.

Le and Chau allegedly cashed over $11 million in client checks at a check cashing facility in Worcester and used their staffing agency’s site supervisors, office manager and drivers to pay their employees in cash.

The indictment further charges that Le and Chau sought to obstruct an investigation by, among other things, directing an employee, after learning of her interview with special agents, to assist them with shredding the agency’s records. They also allegedly destroyed and removed computer disks and computers from the business’s office.

If convicted, Le and Chau face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison for the conspiracy and employment tax counts and three years in prison for obstructing the internal revenue laws. They also face a term of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties