Battle Creek hotel owner Mehul Chandubhai Patel, 31, was ordered to pay restitution of $150,500 to his former employees after being convicted of lying to Labor Department investigators about minimum wage law violations.
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge, Patel was found to have underpaid his hotel employees in 2005 and had signed an agreement promising to repay them. However, he sent checks to the Labor Department indicating that back wages had been repaid, when in fact he had required his employees to return the money to him immediately after cashing them.
Patel’s scheme was uncovered during an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Battle Creek Police Department. He was sentenced to 60 days in prison on May 24, 2017, and has been serving that sentence.
The restitution order, which was the final stage of Patel’s sentence, was imposed after the U.S. Attorney’s Office reached an agreement with Patel to pay $150,500 to the Department of Labor for disbursement to his former employees. This will result in no further action against him for back wages in either criminal or civil court.
Acting U.S. Attorney Birge praised the help provided by the Chicago Office of the Department of Labor in reaching a settlement that satisfied both criminal restitution and civil damages issues.
Patel was charged with violating 18 U.S.C. 1001(a)(1), a federal statute that prohibits anyone from concealing a material fact from the federal government when obligated to disclose it.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy VerHey, and was investigated by the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Battle Creek Police Department.
Mehul Chandubhai Patel, 31, of Battle Creek, Michigan, was ordered to pay restitution of $150,500 to his former employees after being convicted of lying to Labor Department investigators about minimum wage law violations. Patel was sentenced to 60 days in prison on May 24, 2017, and is currently serving that sentence.
Key Facts
- State: Michigan
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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