Thread: PA: Car wash, managers indicted in illegal-alien scheme

Posted on Thu, May. 8, 2008


Car wash, managers indicted in illegal-alien scheme

By Emilie Lounsberry
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

A now-defunct Horsham-based car-wash business and five managers were indicted today by a federal grand jury for allegedly operating a scheme to employ illegal aliens at four local car washes.

U.S. Attorney Patrick Meehan told reporters that the defendants gave the workers the names of former employees to use and paid them in the names of those employees. The illegal workers were permitted to cash their paychecks at a nearby bank without showing identification, according to the charges, as long as they wore T-shirts or sweatshirts bearing the name of the business, Car Care Inc.

The company had branches in Norristown, Flourtown, Bryn Mawr and Cherry Hill. Officials said they have since been sold.

Charged in the indictment was Car Care Inc., and five of its managers. Eric W. Sitarchuk, an attorney for Car Care, said the now-defunct company has agreed to pay a $100,000 fine and forfeit $500,000 from the sale of the car washes. Fifty-seven illegal aliens were arrested during the investigation, authorities said; 14 have been deported, and the others are still facing immigration proceedings.

Contact staff writer Emilie Lounsberry at 215-854-4828 or elounsberry@phillynews.com.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20080 ... cheme.html

Well wax my turtle and clean my white walls 1 down and a nation of car wash illegal aliens to go.

The illegal workers were permitted to cash their paychecks at a nearby bank without showing identification, according to the charges, as long as they wore T-shirts or sweatshirts bearing the name of the business, Car Care Inc.

Which bank was in on this? I hope they were charged also. They always make me present two ID's when I go to cash a check, even if I have an account at the bank and these IAs got checks cashed with NO ID?

If it's a branch of my bank, I want to know so I can rip them a new A.....E next time they give me a hard time about ID!

Originally Posted by miguelina

The illegal workers were permitted to cash their paychecks at a nearby bank without showing identification, according to the charges, as long as they wore T-shirts or sweatshirts bearing the name of the business, Car Care Inc.

Which bank was in on this? I hope they were charged also. They always make me present two ID's when I go to cash a check, even if I have an account at the bank and these IAs got checks cashed with NO ID?

If it's a branch of my bank, I want to know so I can rip them a new A.....E next time they give me a hard time about ID!

Like you I still have to show ID to cash a check at the same bank for the last 15 years. But I guess if you are an ILLEGAL you just get a WINK and your money. The car wash and the Bank may be members of the same Chamber of Commerce!

ICE needs to continue their investigation b/c there's a similar operation in New Hope, and Doylestown, PA "Four Seasons Car Wash" ....one of the facilities also houses the "workers" and they switch them between locales. The prior owners used to hire local high school and college kids, now they are mostly all suspected illegal aliens....oh, and one can frequently see police cruisers patronizing these establishments. Nice.

You can bet the bank manager get a free detail anytime he wants

Anyone else notice that this paper actually uses the correct term? ILLEGAL ALIEN! About time someone stopped the pc crap!

Originally Posted by miguelina

Which bank was in on this? I hope they were charged also.

Dunno but sounds like something Bank of America would do.

07/02/2008
Car wash charged harboring aliens
By: Jesse Reilly , Staff Writer

Horsham-based car wash company Car Care Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Mace Security International, pleaded guilty June 24 to one count of conspiracy to defraud the government, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.


From 2000 to 2006, Car Care managers at car washes in Norristown, Flourtown, Bryn Mawr and Cherry Hill, N.J., hired illegal workers by giving them false names and a way to cash their checks at local banks without identification, a press release said.
"We're not talking about a few illegal workers who slipped through the cracks," U.S. Attorney Pat Meehan said in the press release. "To the contrary, dozens of illegal workers made up the majority of Car Care's workforce at these locations. This is harboring illegal aliens in its simplest form."
According to the indictment, on a given day, illegal immigrants made up approximately 90 percent of the workforce at the locations.
The defendants intentionally refrained from filing termination papers when illegal workers quit so that the names of former employees could be given to new illegal hires, the attorney's office stated.
Using the names and Social Security numbers of former employees, Car Care, through Mace, submitted earnings reports for those illegal workers to the Internal Revenue Service and to Pennsylvania and New Jersey state agencies, the indictment charged.
Several Car Care managers have already pleaded guilty to the charges and are awaiting sentencing.
Each manager who pleaded guilty faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years supervised release.
Car Care, also sentenced on June 24, was ordered to pay a fine of $100,000 and to forfeit $500,000 to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Car Care defense attorney Eric Sitarchuk said aside from one of the regional managers, no higher management was charged.
Although nothing is scheduled at this point, Sitarchuk said sentencing is usually within 60 to 90 days of the plea.

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