A Ukrainian national pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

According to the court documents and statements made in court, between April 2008 and July 2021, Oleksandr Yurchyk and others owned and operated a series of labor-staffing companies in southern Florida, including Paradise Choice LLC, Paradise Choice Cleaning LLC, Tropical City Services LLC and Tropical City Group LLC. Through these staffing companies, Yurchyk and others facilitated the employment of non-resident aliens in the hospitality industry who were not authorized to work in the United States and helped evade the assessment and collection of federal income and employment taxes. Yurchyk and his co-defendants also laundered more than $11 million of proceeds from their scheme.

Yurchyk is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 27, 2025. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for the conspiracy to commit money laundering and five years in prison for the conspiracy to defraud the United States. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department's Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida made the announcement.

Homeland Security Investigations and IRS Criminal Investigation are investigating the case.

Senior Litigation Counsel Sean Beaty and Trial Attorneys Matthew B. Hicks and Wilson R. Stamm of the Justice Department's Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Clark for the Southern District of Florida are prosecuting the case.