Two Florida men pleaded guilty to conspiring to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business. The men admitted to establishing a shell subcontracting construction company for the purpose of cashing checks to help other construction companies pay undocumented workers.
The fake construction company, Sunrise All Contractor Corp., cashed $7.4 million worth of payroll checks in less than four months between September 2014 and January 2015.
"Sunrise All Contractor did not perform any legitimate work and did not employ workers. Instead, Sunrise All Contractor was incorporated for the sole purpose of cashing checks for illegal workers who were employed in the construction industry," Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurice Johnson wrote in the plea agreement.
The two men face a maximum of five years in federal prison and fines up to $250,000 each.
The South Florida-based construction companies that used the service were not identified in court records, and it was unclear if they faced criminal or other penalties.
(more on the case against the Florida men...)
