MORGANVILLE – The owner of a construction company admitted that he avoided paying almost a million dollars in payroll and personal income taxes, officials said.
Bilal Salaj, 55, of Morganville admitted in U.S. District Court that he did not pay $952,778 that he should have paid. His sentencing is scheduled for March 3.
His scheme involved putting his Manhattan construction company under an associate’s name and paying workers in cash.
The Internal Revenue Service found that Salaj had an associate convert $3.2 million in business checks payable to the construction company at check-cashing facilities in Manhattan instead of depositing them into the company account, the assistant U.S. attorney said.
Employees were paid from the cashed checks without any money being sent to the government for income tax, officials said.
Salaj pleaded guilty to defrauding the IRS and tax evasion and will pay the full amount back in restitution.
