Harrisburg Man Pleads Guilty To Conspiracy To Defraud The IRS Of Approximately $1 Million In Employment Taxes

     The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Vanny Son, 33, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Court Judge John E. Jones III to conspiracy to defraud the IRS of approximately $1 million in employment taxes between 2006 and 2012.

     According to U.S. Attorney Peter Smith, Son and a co-conspirator operated five employee leasing companies which supplied day laborers to several businesses in the Harrisburg area.

     The employee leasing companies were known as V&S Services, Industrial Labor Services, Advance Labor Services, HD Staffing Services and TD Staffing.  Between 2006 and 2012, these five businesses paid cash wages of more than $7 million to their employees without withholding any employment taxes, such as social security and Medicare taxes.  As a result, approximately $1 million in employment taxes were not collected and paid to the IRS, as required by federal law.

     Son was indicted by a grand jury on July 10, 2014 along with Son Thach and Hung Danh, also of Harrisburg.  Thach pled guilty on September 24, 2014 and Danh remains a fugitive.

     Son faces up to five years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine and up to three years’ supervised release as well as restitution to the IRS as a result of the guilty plea.  No date has been set for sentencing.

     Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant’s educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.

     The case was investigated by the Criminal Investigation Division of the IRS and is assigned to Senior Litigation Counsel Bruce Brandler for prosecution.