A supervisor at a Pennsylvania food services company and co-conspirators allegedly steered $13 million in business at his company to staffing firms in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickback payments from those firms, the US Attorney’s Office announced Oct. 5.

Jason Bonnewell, 41, of North Abington Township, Pennsylvania, was indicted by a federal grand jury with conspiring to commit honest services fraud and filing false tax returns, according to the office.

Bonnewell pleaded innocent to the charges, court filings said. SIA has reached out to his attorney for comment.

The incidents happened between 2014 and 2019 when Bonnewell allegedly accepted payments from Global Staffing Services Inc. and Penns Independent Staffing, according to the office. Bonnewell’s employer was not named in the lawsuit.

Bonnewell also faces three counts of filing false tax returns for the tax years 2017 through 2019, the office said. Bonnewell allegedly failed to disclose the cash payment on his tax returns, resulting in his underreporting of income.

The maximum penalty for the commercial bribery offense is 20 years in prison.

Five others were previously prosecuted as a result of this same investigation, according to the US Attorney’s Office:

• Mark Holmes, 66, of Hughes Springs, Texas, pleaded guilty to accepting approximately $400,000 in bribes and kickbacks from Global Staffing and Penns Independent Staffing, in exchange for hiring their employees. Holmes was the general manager of the Pennsylvania food services company. The two temporary staffing companies, in turn, received approximately $7.8 million from Holmes’ employer. Holmes also pleaded guilty to failing to pay approximately $135,000 in employment taxes to the IRS that were owed by Encore Staffing Solutions LLC, another temporary staffing company that he owned and operated. Holmes awaits sentencing.
• Nari Lam, 31, of Wilmington, Delaware, pleaded guilty to failing to pay employment taxes to the IRS. Lam was the owner of temporary staffing company Penns Independent Staffing. Lam failed to pay approximately $300,000 in employment taxes owed by Penns Independent Staffing to the IRS from 2016 through 2020. Lam awaits sentencing.
• Madeline Nieves, 49, of Plains, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to a tax fraud conspiracy. Nieves conspired with other individuals to defraud the IRS from 2018 to 2020, in connection with Encore Staffing Solutions, which she owned and operated. Nieves failed to report Encore employee wages to the IRS, resulting in approximately $67,000 in employment taxes owed, but never paid. Nieves also failed to report her own personal income from Encore to the IRS. Nieves awaits sentencing.
• Danny Sing, 60, of Philadelphia pleaded guilty to conspiring with other individuals to evade federal income taxes for approximately $1.6 million in wages paid by Global Staffing to its employees, and to failing to withhold and pay approximately $1.36 million in federal employment taxes to the IRS. Sing and others paid Global Staffing employees in cash, paid themselves in cash and cashed all checks received from Global Staffing’s clients to conceal the income and wages from the IRS. This happened between 2013 and 2020. Sing also pleaded guilty to providing in excess of approximately $400,000 in bribes and kickbacks to managers and supervisors at Global Staffing’s client to obtain business for the company. Sing awaits sentencing.
• Den Lam, 49, of Philadelphia was charged in an information alleging that he conspired with other individuals to evade federal income taxes for approximately $1.6 million in wages paid by Global Staffing to its employees. An information is a formal accusation of a crime by a government attorney rather than a grand jury. Lam also was charged with failing to withhold and remit approximately $1.36 million in federal employment taxes owed, but never paid, by Global Staffing to the IRS.