A 46-year-old Sicklerville man has acknowledged participating in a scheme to defraud the IRS by concealing cash wages paid to employees, Acting U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna announced last week.
Chung “Alex” Lam pleaded guilty at a Feb. 11 hearing before U.S. District Court Judge Edward S. Kiel to one count of conspiracy to defraud the federal government. Court documents and statements made during the hearing revealed that Lam also pleaded guilty in 2018 for failing to pay payroll taxes to the IRS.
Lam was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison, which he served during 2019 and 2020, according to Khanna. But before and after serving his time, Lam allegedly continued to engage in fraudulent activities. Working with the owners of multiple temporary staffing companies, he conspired to evade payroll taxes on wages paid to temporary workers, Khanna reported.
The staffing companies were responsible for collecting and remitting payroll taxes to the IRS for employees placed in businesses. Instead, Lam allegedly facilitated payments that circumvented tax obligations. Between early 2018 and mid-2023, according to Khanna, Lam used a commercial check-cashing service to negotiate more than $4 million in payments intended for staffing-company employees.
He retained a portion of the funds for personal use and distributed the remainder in cash to co-conspirators to pay workers under the table, thereby avoiding payroll tax collection, Khanna explained.
In addition to concealing cash wages, Lam allegedly filed false personal income tax returns that omitted earnings from his involvement in the scheme. Prosecutors estimate his fraudulent activities resulted in a tax loss of approximately $628,351 to the federal government, Khanna noted.
The charge of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Lam is scheduled for sentencing on June 16. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Bender. Lam is represented by defense attorney John B. Brennan of Marlton.
Khanna credited special agents from the IRS – under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jenifer L. Piovesan in Newark – for investigating the case.
