Monroe Business Owner Took Large Kickbacks From Undocumented Employees: D.A.

MONROE, CT — Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that that Anthony Diaz 62, of Monroe, waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of making a false statement to federal agents during an investigation of an employee kickback scheme.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Diaz is a co-owner of Advantage Cleaning, LLC, a custodial services and construction job site cleaner, and manager at Advantage Maintenance, Inc., a janitorial cleaning and maintenance service company. An investigation revealed that undocumented employees of Advantage Cleaning and Advantage Maintenance were required to kick back a large portion of the pay they received for work they performed on prevailing wage jobs to Diaz. Employees who were paid between $37 and $41 per hour would cash their paychecks and would return approximately $25 for each our worked to Diaz.

During and interview with special agents from the U.S. Department of Labor, on September 26, 2014, Diaz Diaz originally denied all of the allegations against him and made several false statements. He later pleaded guilty and admitted that he had received cash kickbacks from his employees, Daly said.

Diaz faces a maximum term of imprisonment of five years and a fine of up to $250,000. He is due in court for sentencing on January 10, 2017.

Image via Shutterstock