Operators of Florida Labor Staffing Companies Sentenced to More than Three Years in Prison for Tax and Immigration Charges

MIAMI - Two operators of several Key West, Florida, labor staffing companies - including PSEB Services Inc., E.S.F. Services Inc. and Expert Services F.S. Inc. - were each sentenced to over three years in prison today for tax and immigration-related crimes.

According to court documents and statements made in court, at various times between January 2014 and October 2019, Zdenek Strnad, Vasil Khatiashvili and others helped run a series of labor staffing companies that facilitated the employment in hotels, bars and restaurants in Key West and elsewhere of non-resident aliens who were not authorized to work in the United States. These labor staffing companies did not withhold federal income taxes or Social Security and Medicare taxes from these workers' wages and did not report the wages to the IRS.

U.S. District Court Judge Jose E. Martinez for the Southern District of Florida sentenced Strnad to 44 months in prison and Khatiashvili to 38 months in prison. In addition to their prison sentences, Judge Martinez ordered Strnad and Khatiashvili to both serve three years of supervised release and to pay $1,836,960.68 in restitution to the United States.

Khatiashvili and Strnad's co-defendant, Petr Sutka, was sentenced to 48 months in prison on March 18.

U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department's Tax Division, Special Agent in Charge Anthony Salisbury of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami, and Special Agent in Charge Matthew D. Line of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Miami Field Office made the announcement.

HSI and IRS-CI investigated the case.

Senior Litigation Counsel Christopher J. Clark of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida, and Senior Litigation Counsel Sean Beaty and Trial Attorneys Jessica A. Kraft, Nicholas J. Schilling Jr., Matthew C. Hicks and Wilson Rae Stamm of the Justice Department's Tax Division prosecuted the case.

You may find a copy of this press release (and any updates) on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 23-CR-10015.

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