Victor Thach, of Philadelphia Sentenced to Prison; Evaded Payment of Payroll Taxes
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Philadelphia Man Gets 46 Month Prison Sentence For Tax Fraud
PHILADELPHIA – Victor Thach, 47, of Philadelphia, was sentenced today to 46 months in prison and ordered to pay $1,337,000 in restitution to the IRS, arising out of his scheme to evade payroll and other taxes. Between 2007 and 2009, Thach operated a 250-person labor leasing agency that supplied temporary workers (including many illegal aliens) to local mail-sorting facilities. During this time period Thach’s clients paid him more than $9.8 million for the labor he provided. Thach, in turn, paid his employees in cash and “under the table,” that is, without issuing IRS Forms W-2 or deducting any payroll taxes. Despite having a multi-million dollar payroll, and despite that two accountants separately counseled him about his tax and reporting obligations during the years in question, Thach did not file a single tax return (corporate or individual).
Thach pleaded guilty to 16 tax-related offenses, including conspiracy to defraud the United States and failure to collect, account for, and pay over taxes.
By withholding federal income taxes and Social Security and Medicare taxes from the “under the table” wages, Thach caused a tax loss of at least $1,049,763. Thach also never accounted for or paid over to the IRS his employers’ matching share of the Social Security and Medicare taxes, totaling $454,996. Instead of paying the government, Thach spent tens of thousands of dollars gambling at high-end casinos in Atlantic City (including losing $100,460 at the Borgata Casino in 2007), purchased a $59,000 Mercedes Benz SUV, made regular payments toward a $60,000 Hummer, traveled repeatedly to Cambodia, and wired more than $180,000 to accounts he controlled in Cambodia.
In addition to the prison term and restitution, U.S. District Court Judge Anita Brody ordered three years of supervised release and a $1,600 special assessment.
The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations and the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kevin Brenner.