Gary L. Walker, 51, of Lee’s Summit, Mo., is facing justice after being sentenced to five years of probation for systematically underpaying his employees at Magic Touch Cleaning, Inc., in violation of federal labor law. The verdict, handed down today in federal court, marks the end of a years-long scheme that cheated janitorial workers out of nearly $100,000 in earned wages and overtime.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert E. Larsen ordered Walker to pay $196,484 in restitution—double the amount of wages he denied his employees—directly to the victims. The funds cover unpaid minimum wages and overtime from 2010 through August 3, 2013, during which time employees worked more than 40 hours per week without legally mandated compensation. Walker must pay a minimum of $50,000 annually until the full restitution is satisfied.
Walker, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge on April 7, 2016, owned and operated Magic Touch Cleaning, Inc., a commercial janitorial service that cleaned banks and healthcare facilities across the region. Despite running a seemingly legitimate business, he falsified payroll records to hide his failure to pay workers the federally mandated minimum wage of $7.25 per hour and proper overtime at time-and-a-half.
“Gary Walker provided falsified records to the U.S. Department of Labor in order to conceal his failure to pay nearly $100,000 in wages to his employees,” said Steven Grell, Special Agent-in-Charge of the DOL’s Office of Inspector General, Dallas Regional Office. “We will continue to work with our departmental and other law enforcement partners to ensure that employers do not victimize American workers by denying them the wages they have earned.”
Tammy Dickinson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, emphasized that worker protections are not optional. “This company’s former employees will not only receive the wages they rightfully earned, but will be paid restitution of twice the amount they were unfairly denied,” she said. “I will uphold the rights of employees and prosecute employers who violate federal laws designed to protect workers.”
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul S. Becker and investigated by the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General. As part of Walker’s plea agreement, the government will dismiss the civil action filed against him and his company in Perez v. Magic Touch Cleaning, Inc. et al (Case No. 15-CV-00174-SWH), closing the legal chapter on a crime that exploited some of the most vulnerable workers in the service economy.
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Key Facts
- State: Missouri
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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