Huong Le and Tien Chau, Employment Tax Evasion, Massachusetts 2023

Massachusetts Couple Charged with Employment Tax Evasion

Huong Le and Tien Chau, owners of a Massachusetts temporary employment agency, have been indicted for conspiring to defraud the government, failing to pay over employment taxes, and obstructing the internal revenue laws.

According to the indictment, Huong Le and Tien Chau operated their employment agency under at least four different names: Central Boston Staffing Services, Metro Boston Staffing Services, General Staffing Inc., and Kim’s Staffing Inc. The couple allegedly used family members and other individuals as nominees to conceal their ownership of the business.

The indictment alleges that from 2006 through 2011, Le and Chau conspired to conceal their agency’s total number of employees from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to lower their employment tax liabilities. Le and Chau allegedly attempted to hide the size of their workforce from the IRS by paying most of their employees cash under the table and causing the filing of false employment tax returns that both underreported the number of their employees and did not report wages paid in cash. Le and Chau allegedly cashed over $11 million in client checks at a check cashing facility in Worcester and used their staffing agency’s site supervisors, office manager, and drivers to pay their employees in cash.

The indictment further charges that Le and Chau sought to obstruct an investigation by, among other things, directing an employee, after learning of her interview with special agents, to assist them with shredding the agency’s records. Le and Chau also allegedly destroyed and removed computer disks and computers from the business’s office.

Defendant: Huong Le and Tien Chau

Criminal Charges: Conspiring to defraud the government, failing to pay over employment taxes, and obstructing the internal revenue laws

City and State: Boston, Massachusetts

Date: March 22, 2023

Sentence or Outcome: If convicted, Le and Chau face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison for the conspiracy and employment tax counts and three years in prison for obstructing the internal revenue laws. They also face a term of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties.

Dollar Amounts: Over $11 million in client checks cashed

Additional information about the case can be found on the Tax Division’s website.

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