Schools
Man Didn't Pay Workers For Huntington Schools Project: Suffolk DA
The contractor failed to pay $104,000 in wages owed to workers on a capital project for the Huntington School District, officials said.
SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY — A contractor was arrested after he was accused of failing to pay about $104,000 in wages owed to workers on a project for the Huntington Union Free School District, Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy D. Sini announced Wednesday.
Young Jae Kim, 67, of Queens, and his company, Tri-State Construction of New York Corp., are each charged with first-degree offering a false instrument for filing and willful failure to pay the minimum rate of wage and supplement, both felonies. He faces a maximum sentence of one and one-third to four years in prison if convicted of the top count.
Between June 29, 2018, and Aug. 11, 2018, Kim and his company were employed as a contractor for a capital improvement project for the school district, prosecutors said. Kim submitted certified payrolls to the school district that indicated a failure to pay workers any supplement benefits and overtime as required for working more than 40 hours in a workweek, officials said. Evidence revealed 11 employees were not paid a total of $104,000 in prevailing wage supplements and overtime, Sini said.
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"People deserve to be paid for the work they do; it’s that simple," Sini said in a statement. "Not only were these defendants allegedly shortchanging their employees, but they were doing so on the public’s payroll. This is unacceptable. I thank the members of my office’s Financial Investigations & Money Laundering Bureau for continuing to investigate and prosecute labor crimes like these and to make sure Suffolk County workers are being paid their fair share."
Kim also filed false NYS-45 quarterly wage reporting forms to the state Department of Labor, under-reporting wages to avoid paying unemployment contributions, officials said.
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Kim turned himself in to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office Wednesday and was given a desk appearance ticket; he is scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 8.
The state Department of Labor and state Insurance Fund helped investigate the case.
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