Date: August 8, 2022 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov The manager of Key West, Florida, labor staffing companies was sentenced today to 48 months in prison for tax and immigration crimes related to the operation of those businesses. According to court documents and statements made in court, from approximately January 2016 through October 2020, Volodymyr Ogorodnychuk, of Key West, helped operate Paradise Choice LLC, Paradise Choice Cleaning LLC, Tropical City Services LLC and Tropical City Group LLC, all of which were labor staffing companies in southern Florida. The staffing companies facilitated the employment of individuals in hotels, bars and restaurants in Key West and other locations, even though the employees were not authorized to work in the United States. As part of his plea, Ogorodnychuk admitted that he and his co-conspirators paid the workers without withholding Social Security, Medicare and income taxes from their wages, and then did not report those wages to the IRS as required by law. Ogorodnychuk also admitted he and his co-conspirators defrauded the IRS out of more than $3.5 million in employment taxes. In addition to the term of imprisonment, U.S. District Court Judge Jose E. Martinez for the Southern District of Florida ordered Ogorodnychuk to serve three years of supervised release. Restitution will be determined within 90 days. Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department's Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez for the Southern District of Florida made the announcement. The IRS-Criminal Investigation, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case. Senior Litigation Counsel Sean Beaty, Trial Attorneys Jessica A. Kraft and Nicholas J. Schilling Jr. of the Justice Department's Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Clark of the Southern District of Florida prosecuted the case.
