A Ukrainian national pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

According to court documents and statements made in court, between August 2007 and August 2021, Oleg Oliynyk and others owned and operated a series of labor-staffing companies in South Florida, including Paradise Choice LLC, Paradise Choice Cleaning LLC, Tropical City Services LLC and Tropical City Group LLC. Through these staffing companies, Oliynyk and others facilitated the employment of non-resident aliens in the hospitality industry who were not authorized to work in the United States and helped evade the assessment and collection of federal income and employment taxes. Oliynyk and his codefendants also laundered more than $11 million of proceeds from their scheme.

A sentencing hearing will be set at a later date. Oliynyk faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for the conspiracy to commit money laundering charge and a maximum penalty of five years in prison for the conspiracy to defraud the United States charge. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida made the announcement.

Homeland Security Investigations and IRS Criminal Investigation are investigating the case.

Senior Litigation Counsel Sean Beaty and Trial Attorneys Matthew B. Hicks and Wilson R. Stamm of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Clark for the Southern District of Florida are prosecuting the case.

This crime news article "Owner of Florida Labor-Staffing Companies Pleads Guilty to Tax Fraud and Money Laundering" was originally found on https://www.justice.gov/usao/pressreleases