Owner of Harrisburg day laborer firm pleads guilty to tax evasion

The owner of a Harrisburg firm that supplied day laborers to businesses in central and northeastern Pennsylvania has pleaded guilty to tax evasion.

Howard Ginting, 30, was indicted by a grand jury on 17 related counts in January. U.S. Attorney Peter Smith of the Middle District of Pennsylvania said Ginting underreported the employee and employer share of Social Security and Medicare taxes by $216,846 on income of about $1 million.

Ginting formed his corporation in April 2006, according to Department of State records. From October 2006 through February 2008, Ginting Enterprises paid $851,553 in wages, according to a news release from Smith’s office. However, Ginting told the Internal Revenue Service that he had paid wages of only $68,549.

He underpaid the Social Security tax and Medicare taxes owed by about $119,799, according to the release.

In February 2008, Ginting shut down Ginting Enterprises and ran his same business under the name Trojan Services Inc. A check of Department of State records shows such an entity was not registered as a corporation under Ginting’s name.

From that time until May 2011, the new company paid $638,477 in wages, but Ginting did not report any of it to the IRS. He underpaid Social Security and Medicare taxes by about $97,047, according to the release.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Zubrod prosecuted the case after an IRS investigation.

Ginting pleaded guilty Wednesday before U.S. District Court Judge William C. Caldwell.

Ginting faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and up to three years supervised release as well as restitution, tax penalties and interest, according to the release.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office said no sentencing date for Ginting had been set.

Source: Central Penn Business Journal