In a significant crackdown on illegal labor practices, Zdenek Strnad and Vasil Khatiashvili, heads of several Key West labor staffing firms, have been thrown in the slammer for over three years each on tax and immigration beefs. Court documents, as per announcements on Monday by federal authorities, expose a scheme where non-resident aliens were unlawfully employed at hospitality venues, while their wages stayed off the IRS's radar.
The criminal enterprises led by these two operators spanned half a decade, from January 2014 to October 2019, the companies skimmed taxes while employing folks without proper work papers, this occurred throughout hotels, bars and restaurants in the storied streets of Key West, according to information released by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida. Prison sentences of 44 months for Strnad and 38 months for Khatiashvili were handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Jose E. Martinez, who also ordered the pair to cough up north of $1.8 million in restitution.
The duo's accomplice, Petr Sutka, received his comeuppance earlier, on March 18, with a 48-month sentence. The combined efforts of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) led to the unraveling of their illicit operations.
During their three-year span of supervised release following their sentences, Strnad and Khatiashvili will pay for flouting the rules, this will be happening while Homeland Security and the IRS continue their vigilance against those who sidestep tax and immigration laws, steering clear of paying Uncle Sam his due by employing workers unauthorized for U.S. soil. U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe of the Southern District of Florida along with other notable justice figures announced the sentences.
Those interested in the gritty details of this case of not playing it straight and narrow with workforce legality can visit the websites of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida or the District Court for the Southern District of Florida, as the documents related to case number 23-CR-10015 are a matter of public record.
