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Massachusetts staffing firm owner pleads guilty to tax evasion

April 08, 2016

The owner of a Massachusetts staffing firm pleaded guilty Thursday to income tax evasion and failure to withhold and pay employment taxes, according to the Department of Justice US Attorney’s Office.

Rossy Noriega, 50, the owner of New Diamond Work Inc., a temporary employment agency based in Fall River, Mass., pleaded guilty in federal court to charges that she failed to pay $720,923 in employment and personal income taxes due the US Internal Revenue Service. Noriega admitted that she failed to pay employment taxes for those employees who she paid in cash, and that she failed to pay personal taxes on unreported cash from her business that she pocketed, according to the department.

Noriega admitted to the court that during tax years 2009-2013, she made more than $2.5 million dollars in cash withdrawals from her company bank accounts. Some of the proceeds of these withdrawals were used to pay employees in cash, while some of the proceeds were used for her own personal benefit, according to the department.

Noriega admitted that she failed to accurately report to the IRS the number of employees, total payments to the employees, and the employees’ and the employers’ share of federal employment taxes due the IRS. She also admitted that she failed to accurately report her own personal income, thus she failed to pay the appropriate amount of taxes due the IRS.

An investigation by IRS Criminal Investigation found Noriega failed to pay to the IRS $580,066 in payroll taxes on behalf of New Diamond Work  for the quarters ending March 31, 2009, through and December 31, 2013; and that during tax years 2009-2013, she failed to pay personal income taxes totaling $140,857.

Noriega is scheduled to be sentenced on June 24.