GOP Rep. Grimm Hired Illegals, Backed Amnesty
Politics
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GOP Rep. Grimm Hired Illegals, Backed Amnesty
Neil Munro
White House Correspondent
New York GOP Rep. Mike Grimm had a secret reason for supporting the Senate’s “comprehensive immigration reform” bill — it includes a partial pardon for people who illegally hire low-wage illegals instead of tax-paying Americans.
That’s precisely what he was doing from 2007 to 2010, according to a charge sheet described today by a New York prosecutor.
The federal charges say he hired illegals for his New York health-food restaurant, paid them in cash to evade detection, hid $1 million in income and cheated on his federal and state taxes, from 2007 to 2010.
“He engaged in schemes to fraudulently under-report the wages he paid his workers — many of whom did not have legal status in the United States — and fraudulently under-report the true amount of money the restaurant earned,” says the indictment, filed April 25.
Grimm has been an outspoken supporter of “immigration reform,” earning him plaudits from the immigration-increasing America’s Voice group, and brickbats from groups seeking reduced immigration, such as Americans for Legal Immigration PAC.
Both groups cited his July 2013 statement, that “legalization [of illegals] ultimately leads to citizenship. That is the ultimate goal.”
The Senate bill would raise the inflow of immigrants and guest-workers to roughly 40 million over the next decade. That’s equal to the number of Americans who will enter the workforce in the next decade.
Nationally, the food industry is a leading advocate for an immigration amnesty, and for an increased inflow of new immigrants and guest workers. The industry, which includes farmers, food processors and restaurants, is politically influential in GOP districts, partly because many legislators are friends of local food-industry business owners.
The increased inflow of immigrants would provide the industry with more workers and more customers, says advocates.
Grimm is sometimes described in the media as a “moderate,” which usually means he’s a liberal on social issues and conservative on tax issues.
He’s voted consistently against high taxes. “I support a systemic reform to our tax code that makes it fairer, flatter, and simpler – helping to remove barriers to job creation and putting more money back in the hands of the hard-working people of Staten Island and Brooklyn,” according to his website.
He’s generally voted conservative on social issues, such as for curbs on abortion, which are supported by his mostly-white constituents. But in 2014, he supported the “Employment Non-Discrimination Act,” which would threaten employers with lawsuits when they fire gays, lesbians or people who say they’re transgender.
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Bombshell Indictment: Rep. Michael Grimm Hid over $1 Million from IRS, Hired Illegals
by Frances Martel 28 Apr 2014, 9:39 AM PDT
breitbart.com
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Prosecutors released a searing indictment of Rep. Michael Grimm today, alleging he hid over $1 million in revenue from the IRS by paying employees—including illegal immigrant workers—in cash.
Grimm, a former FBI agent, is facing over 20 charges relating to a health food restaurant, Healthalicious, he ran from 2007-2010, including wire fraud, perjury, and obstruction of justice.
Loretta Lynch, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, described the alleged conduct as "breathtaking" at a press conference Monday and accused Rep. Grimm of "succumb[ing] to the allure of easy money and cheat[ing] his way to success."
Grimm surrendered to federal authorities early Monday.
The indictment threatens the political career of the sophomore lawmaker, who has emerged as a key moderate voice in the House Republican conference. Already in the course of his short political career, Grimm has faced a litany of ethics complaints, and watchdog groups like Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington are calling for his immediate resignation.
The core of Rep. Grimm's crime, the indictment alleges, is the insistence on paying some employees exclusively in cash and others partly in cash and partly through checks. The payroll processing companies working with Rep. Grimm would only see the payments given by check, and these were the only payments thus reported to a number of entities: his accountant, the IRS, the State of New York, the New York State Insurance Fund, and health insurance companies.
Through the unknowing accountant, Rep. Grimm hid $1.3 million in profits. This allowed him to skimp on both federal and state taxes, pay less for workers' compensation insurance, pay less in health insurance coverage for employees, and hire illegal immigrants, who were paid exclusively in cash.
Rep. Grimm kept a set of spreadsheets showing the amount of money entering and leaving the restaurant that he shared with his accountant and payroll processing companies. He kept a second set of spreadsheets that showed the true profits of the restaurant and the true salaries of all employees.
Upon facing a congressional election, Grimm hired a manager to do much of the work he was once responsible for at the restaurant. This manager he communicated with through an AOL account. He sent the manager the second set of spreadsheets showing the restaurant's true profits via this account-- committing wire fraud, the indictment alleges.
"GRIMM concealed over $1,000,000 in Healthalicious gross receipts alone, as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars of employees' wages, fraudulently depriving the federal and New York State governments of sales, income and payroll taxes," the federal indictment alleges.
As a result of paying employees in cash, a number of parties-- from the IRS to the New York state revenue office to the workers' compensation insurance company Rep. Grimm hired-- were under the impression that Healthalicious was suffering business losses, rather than significant business profits. Rep. Grimm is facing twenty criminal charges, all of which fall into the following nine categories:
Obstructing and Impeding the Due Administration of the Internal Revenue Laws
Conspiracy to Defraud the US
Aiding and Assisting in the Preparation of False and Fraudulent Tax Returns (3-5)
Health Care Fraud
Wire Fraud
Mail Fraud
Perjury
Obstruction of Official Proceeding
Unlawful Employment of Aliens
There are more charges than crimes because Rep. Grimm is charged with committing some of these crimes towards a number of institutions--particularly the first count.
The indictment also accuses Grimm of lying under oath during a deposition for a lawsuit brought by former employees of Healthalicious. The employees alleged that they were being paid less than minimum wage.
When two former employees sued Grimm for being paid less than minimum wage, Rep. Grimm found his scheme dangerously close to being revealed. Then, "he lied under oath during a civil deposition about his role in operating the restaurant, including falsely denying that he had paid Healthalicious' workers in cash," the indictment claims.
In addition to the larger money hiding scheme, Grimm "knowingly hired and knowingly continued to employ workers who did not have legal residency status and accordingly did not have valid authorization to work inside the United States," the indictment concludes. As these individuals were not on the payroll, they did not receive health insurance--a crime of its own.
Rep. Grimm's attorney, William McGinley, accused the government of a "politically driven vendetta against Congressman Grimm and not an independent search for the truth,” denying the allegations.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Governm...iring-Illegals
