A former Key West, Florida, resident pleaded guilty to an immigration conspiracy related to the operation of several staffing companies, according to the US Department of Justice.
Court documents and statements made in court from January 2016 through at least January 2021 showed that Oleksandr Morgunov, formerly 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 staffing companies in southern Florida, according to the Department of Justice.
These companies facilitated the employment of individuals in hotels, bars and restaurants in Key West and other locations. However, the workers were not authorized to work in the US, according to the department.
As part of his plea, Morgunov 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 the wages to the Internal Revenue Service as required by law, according to the department.
Morgunov also acknowledged that he and his co-conspirators defrauded the IRS out of more than $7.9 million in employment taxes. He is scheduled to be sentenced on January 31, 2023, and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.