Construction brothers guilty of tax evasion

BY ROBERT E. KESSLER | robert.kessler@newsday.com
April 12, 2008

Two brothers who operate a Patchogue construction company pleaded guilty Friday to evading federal income taxes, the latest in a series of cases on Long Island involving employment of undocumented immigrants working in home construction, according to officials.

The brothers, Timothy Kaywood, 44, and Peter Kaywood, 41, who own New Vision Construction Corp., were charged with evading $124,000 in taxes on payments they made off the books to workers in 2006, according to court documents. As part of a plea bargain, they admitted to failing to pay $61,000 in taxes.

The brothers, who provide carpenters who do framing work on new houses around Long Island, said little except to admit their guilt to U.S. District Judge Thomas Platt at the federal court in Central Islip.

Martin Conroy, director of organizing for the Empire State Regional Council of Carpenters, said afterward the case showed that in addition to depriving carpenters who are citizens of work, the practice was extensive and depriving the government of needed tax revenue.

The Kaywoods' prosecution was the third time since June a Long Island construction firm has pleaded guilty to evading taxes, under a crackdown by the Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service.

The brothers face a prison term of between zero to 5 years.

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