Failure to pay $3.6M in taxes on illegal workers leads to prison for Belle Vernon man

A Belle Vernon man who ran a temporary staffing agency and failed to pay $3.6 million in employment taxes for illegal employees will serve 2½ years in federal prison.

Andy Ha, 28, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Cathy Bissoon in Pittsburgh on Tuesday. He pleaded guilty in February to failure to pay taxes and harboring illegal aliens for financial gain.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Ha owned Prosperity Services Inc., which provided workers to companies in the Charleroi area in Washington County.

Investigators said Ha provided employment, housing and transportation for more than 25 workers who were not legally permitted to be in — or work — in the United States.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Ha provided Prosperity’s tax return preparer false spreadsheets that listed only the company’s employees who were authorized to work in the U.S. and were paid by check.

That spreadsheet, the government said, listed less than 10% of Prosperity’s total workers.

The company’s quarterly filings, the prosecution said, dramatically understated the amount of employment tax due each quarter.

The sentencing guidelines called for a prison term of 30 to 37 months incarceration.

In a sentencing memorandum, Ha’s attorney said Ha is a hard worker who has three sons. He urged the government to find that Ha deserved a reduction in his sentence, arguing he was a minor participant in the crime.

But the government disagreed, writing that Ha was the most culpable in the scheme. He knowingly and willfully signed the false tax returns and chose to withhold the taxes, it said. He also chose to drive to Philadelphia to cash checks so he could pay the illegal workers in cash.

“He was therefore aware of the nature and scope of the criminal enterprise, was the central figure in the crime, and his actions were integral to the success of the crime,” the government wrote.

In addition, the prosecution argued, Ha’s sentence should be harsh enough to deter others from committing the same crimes.

“In harboring employees who were not legally authorized to be or work in the United States, Prosperity secured for itself a reliable and cheap workforce,” the government said.

“This provided Prosperity with an unfair advantage over staffing agencies that sought to provide workers who were legally authorized to be and work in the United States.”