A Florida man was sentenced today to 96 months in prison for conspiring to harbor non-resident aliens and induce them to remain in the country and conspiring to defraud the IRS.
According to court documents, from 2016 through 2021, Oleksandr Morgunov helped operate a series of labor-staffing companies in South Florida, including Paradise Choice LLC, Paradise Choice Cleaning LLC, Tropical City Services LLC and Tropical City Group LLC. These 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. Morgunov and his co-conspirators defrauded the IRS out of more than $7.9 million in employment taxes that should have been withheld and paid over in connection with the employment of these workers.
In addition to the term of imprisonment, U.S. District Court Judge Jose E. Martinez ordered Morgunov to serve three years of supervised release and to pay $7,958,421.50 in restitution to the United States.
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 DHS Homeland Security Investigations and IRS-Criminal Investigation investigated the case.
Senior Litigation Counsel Sean Beaty, Trial Attorneys Jessica A. Kraft, Nicholas J. Schilling Jr., Matthew C. Hicks, Wilson Rae Stamm and Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Clark of the Southern District of Florida prosecuted the case.
