Labor staffing firm operator pleads guilty to immigration fraud

FLORIDA — A former Key West resident pleaded guilty last week to an immigration conspiracy related to the operation of several Key West labor staffing companies, the  U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida has announced.

According to court documents and statements made in court, from January 2016 through at least January 2021, 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 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, reportedly even though the employees were not authorized to work in the United States.

Morgunov acknowledged that he and his co-conspirators defrauded the IRS out of more than $7.9 million in employment taxes, according to the announcement.

Morgunov is scheduled to be sentenced on January 31, 2023. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for conspiring to harbor aliens and induce them to remain in the United States. 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 Juan Antonio Gonzalez for the Southern District of Florida made the announcement.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations and IRS-Criminal Investigation are investigating the case.

Senior Litigation Counsel Sean Beaty and Trial Attorneys Jessica

A. Kraft and Nicholas J. Schilling, Jr., of the Tax Division, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Clark of the Southern District of Florida are prosecuting the case.