Worcester man indicted for fraud while running employment agencies
A Worcester man already facing federal fraud charges stemming from his role overseeing local employment agencies was indicted Thursday on 14 charges.
Tam Vuong, 44, is charged with wire fraud and failing to pay taxes. He was arrested and charged by criminal complaint in April.
According to federal prosecutors for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, Vuong ran Worcester employment agencies Prime Labor LLC and UT Services, Inc. Both primarily paid employees in cash and failed to report or pay taxes on those cash wages.
Between 2012 and 2017, more than $30 million in client company checks were cashed at a check-cashing business in Worcester, prosecutors said. That cash was used to pay workers and wasn’t reported to the federal tax collectors or the company’s insurer.
UT Services’ insurance carrier was falsely told the firm had only one employee and an annual payroll of $50,000, but the company actually had dozens of employees and a much higher payroll.
The firm disseminated forged certificates of insurance to clients and failed to inform clients when its workers’ compensation policy was cancelled, prosecutors allege.
When federal search warrants were executed in November 2017, Vong allegedly shifted operations from Prime Labor Services to UT Services and tried to cover up his role in both firms, prosecutors said.
For the wire fraud charges, Vuong faces up to 20 years in prison, and a fine of up to $250,000 on each count. He faces another five years in prison and a $10,000 fine for each tax fraud charge.
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