A Massachusetts staffing firm and its two owners were indicted in connection with an alleged wage theft scheme in which temporary workers were not paid minimum wage or overtime and were retaliated against during an investigation, Attorney General Maura Healey announced.

Robert Carrion, Fabiola Ramirez and their company, Country Temp Corp., were indicted on March 23 by a Suffolk Grand Jury.

Country Temp supplied temporary workers to Coliseum Companies Inc. d/b/a Bay State Linen, a commercial laundry company in Dorchester, Mass. Those employees performed manual labor at the warehouse. An investigation found the defendants were allegedly paying employees below minimum wage in an under-the-table payroll operation and that the employees allegedly did not receive overtime pay.

After the AG’s office began its investigation, Carrion and Ramirez allegedly attempted to intimidate, threaten and mislead their employees. They also allegedly reduced the amount of hours certain cooperating workers were allowed to work after Ramirez witnessed those workers speaking with investigators from the AG’s office during a site inspection.

The AG’s office alleges that in the criminal case, nine employees are owed nearly $55,000 in minimum wages and overtime.

A separate $900,000 civil settlement was reached recently with the operator of the warehouse. Approximately 177 Country Temp workers will receive restitution through that settlement. The AG’s allegations against Bay State — which Bay State denied — were based on joint employer liability.

“Our office alleges that these defendants exploited vulnerable temporary workers in an off-the-books, cash operation in which employees were paid well below the minimum wage and never paid overtime,” said AG Healey. “There is no place in Massachusetts for employers who cheat their workers, subject them poor working conditions, and intimidate and retaliate against them for speaking out.”