Mon Valley business owner pleads guilty to harboring illegal aliens
The owner of a temporary staffing agency in Charleroi pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of harboring illegal aliens for financial gain and failing to pay more than $3 million in employment taxes.
Acting United States Attorney Troy Rivetti said Monday that Andy Ha, 28, of Belle Vernon, pleaded guilty to two counts before United States District Judge Cathy Bissoon.
Ha was charged in a two-count indictment filed Jan. 28.
According to a release from the Department of Justice, Ha owned Prosperity Services Inc. from September 2022 to April 2024. The company provided workers to companies in Charleroi.
As part of his business, Ha paid for more than 25 workers who were not legally authorized to be in the United States to stay in a former hotel, and his business paid for vans to transport the workers to and from work.
In addition, Ha is reported to have provided Prosperity’s tax return preparer with spreadsheets listing only workers who were legally authorized to be and work in the United States. That information, in turn, was reflected on the company’s quarterly employment tax returns, representing less than 10% of the actual total number of workers employed by Prosperity.
The release continued that Ha also signed those returns, knowing they were false and causing a tax loss of at least $3.1 million.
“The defendant broke the law by harboring and employing individuals not authorized to be in the United States,” Rivetti said. “In addition, defendant Ha cost the U.S. government millions of dollars through his failure to pay taxes related to his business. Our office and our law enforcement partners at all levels will continue to ensure that those who seek to profit from the employment of such workers, and who fail to pay taxes, face appropriate consequences under the law.”
Bissoon scheduled sentencing for July 22.