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Press Release

Owner of New York City Temporary Staffing Firms Indicted for Employment Tax Fraud

For Immediate Release
Office of Public Affairs

A federal grand jury in Brooklyn, New York, indicted a New York City resident yesterday on multiple counts of willfully failing to collect, truthfully account for, and pay over federal employment taxes to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.

According to the indictment, Steven Heppenheimer owned and operated temporary employment staffing businesses located in Long Island City, New York, including PTP Staffing Associates Inc. (PTP), and PPS Associates Inc. (PPS). As the alleged sole owner of PTP and PPS, Heppenheimer was required to collect, account for, and pay to the IRS federal employment taxes withheld from the wages of PTP and PPS employees. As alleged in the indictment, from 2013 through 2017, Heppenheimer failed to report more than $270,000 in employment taxes to the IRS. 

If convicted, Heppenheimer faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years imprisonment for each count charged. He also faces substantial monetary penalties, supervised release, and restitution.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who investigated this case, and Trial Attorneys Brittney Campbell and Ann Marie Cherry of the Tax Division, who are prosecuting this case.

An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.

Updated October 24, 2019

Topics
Financial Fraud
Tax
Component
Press Release Number: 19-1145