Thread: Grand jury indicts Rogers company for undocumented worker

http://www.arkansasnews.com/archive/200 ... 36742.html


Grand jury indicts Rogers company for undocumented worker
Thursday, Jun 29, 2006


Arkansas News Bureau
A federal grand jury issued an indictment Wednesday on charges that an Arkansas firm led by the chairwoman of the Benton County Democratic Party and candidate for the state House of Representatives hired undocumented workers.

Robbyn Tumey of Rogers, chief executive of Managed Subcontractors International of Rogers, confirmed Wednesday that her company received news of the indictment today. Tumey is running for the District 95 state House seat against Republican Aaron Burkes.

"We'll do everything we can to provide any information and records. We're 100 percent compliant and always have been," Tumey said.

No one from her company was called to testify before the grand jury, she said.

"I found out the grand jury was looking into this when reporters called me after a press release was issued," she said.

According to an Associated Press account of the indictment, MSI was hired to build a basic training complex at Fort Leonard Wood, Kan. A 52-count indictment was issued saying the company made false compliance statements to the government between November 2002 and July 2003. Companies with government contracts must agree to statements that their workers are in the United States legally. The company is also charged with having failed to provide workers' compensation coverage for its employees, according to the AP account of the indictment.

Tumey is running for the District 95 state House seat against Republican Aaron Burkes.

http://www.arkansasnews.com/archive/200 ... 36805.html

Missouri grand jury interested in wages, not immigrants
Saturday, Jul 1, 2006

By Doug Thompson
Arkansas News Bureau
FAYETTEVILLE - The federal indictment involving a Benton County company run by a candidate for the state Legislature involves wage and hour provisions of a federal contract, not about documenting workers' residency, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Missouri said Friday.

Robbyn Tumey of Rogers, a candidate for the District 95 state House seat against Republican Aaron Burkes and chairwoman of the Benton County Democratic Party, is president of Managed Subcontractors International Inc. of Rogers. The company was named in a 52-count indictment returned by a Missouri federal grand jury this week.

"I've seen some coverage that this indictment is about hiring undocumented workers, and I don't know where that came from," said Don Ledford of Kansas City, Mo., spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office there. "This indictment is about the prevailing wage issue. That's the gist of it."

MSI was hired to help build a basic training complex at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, according to a federal Department of Justice statement outlining the indictment. Contractors for federal jobs are required to pay the prevailing local wage, calculated under a formula. The 52-count indictment charges that deductions from workers' paychecks took MSI out of compliance with that provision of the contract, which MSI denies.

Tumey said in a interview that MSI learned of the grand jury's interest in the contracts when the company was contacted by reporters after the U.S. Attorney's Office in Kansas City issued a news release about the indictment on Tuesday. She denied all charges and said she expects her company will be vindicated.

Ledford said federal law prohibits him from confirming or denying whether anyone representing MSI was brought before the grand jury.

MSI was awarded a contract for framing, drywall hanging, finishing and related trades for a subcontractor working on the construction of the Basic Combat Training Complex at Fort Leonard Wood.

The contract was administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and under the federal Davis Bacon Act, wages paid to workers were required to meet or exceed the prevailing wage rate, according to the Justice Department.

MSI's work on the contract was from Nov. 11, 2002, to July 23, 2003.

Counts 1 to 50 of the indictment accuses Brentt Tumey, MSI's director of operations and Robbyn Tumey's son, and a staff member of making false statements on statements of compliance. Those statements said that no deductions had been made from wages paid by MSI on the project "other than permissible deductions," federal officials said.

The indictment alleges that MSI made an unlawful deduction of 10 percent from its employees' gross earnings for workers' compensation insurance. It also alleges that the workers weren't covered by a policy of workers' compensation insurance.

Count 51 of the indictment contends that an invalid Social Security number was given by Anibal Tristan Rodriguez, 32, of Dallas. Rodriguez was identified in the indictment as a manager for MSI. Company officials said Friday that MSI has never employed an Anibal Tristan Rodriguez.

Count 52 alleges failure to carry workers' compensation insurance, which MSI denies.