By Jeff Blumenthal

– A South Philadelphia labor contractor was sentenced Thursday to 30 months in prison for illegally transporting undocumented foreign workers and failing to pay employment and income taxes, federal prosecutors in Philadelphia said.

Kim Meas, 60, a native of Cambodia, pleaded guilty last November to two counts of conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, two counts of transporting illegal aliens and two counts of failure to collect and pay federal income and employment taxes.

In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Jan E. Dubois ordered restitution to the IRS in the amount of $1.7 million during three years of supervised release, a $600 special assessment, and $23 million in forfeiture.

Meas was the managing director of LS Services Corp., an employee leasing company in South Philadelphia.

Prosecutors said he negotiated labor leasing contracts with various companies throughout the Philadelphia region and established 14 shell companies to create the illusion that the workers that LS leased to other companies were employed by the shells. The goal of that arrangement, prosecutors said, was to make the shells appear responsible for collecting and paying employment and income taxes for the employees.

Prosecutors said Meas tried to make it impossible for the IRS to determine the identity of the employer of the illegal aliens, as well as the amount of employment and income taxes that the employer of the illegal aliens was required to pay to the federal treasury. Prosecutors said LS also transported the undocumented foreign employees, free of charge, to various work locations in company vehicles.

Source – http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/news/2015/07/23/meas-prison-sentence-undocumented-workers-charge.html