Man charged with commercial bribery in fraud, kickback investigation

EYEWITNESS NEWS (WBRE/WYOU) — Officials have charged seven people for allegedly committing bribery fraud worth thousands of dollars in Pennsylvania.

The Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania says charges have been filed against Jose L. Ortiz , 48, of Drums, for conspiring to commit honest services fraud.

According to U.S. Attorney Gerard M. Karam, during Ortiz’s tenure as a manager/director at a Pennsylvania food services company from 2014 to 2021, he and his coconspirators accepted cash bribes and other valued items from accomplices who owned and operated Global Staffing Services, Inc. and Penns Independent Staffing.

Global Staffing Services and Penns Independent Staffing provided temporary employees to Ortiz’s company. In exchange, Ortiz entered contracts with and hired the temporary employees of the two companies, investigators said.

As stated in the release, over $18,000,000 was paid to the staffing companies in exchange for kickbacks. Ortiz allegedly received approximately $200,000 of those cash kickbacks.

The following six people were previously charged in this investigation according to officials;

1. Mark Holmes, 66, of Texas, general manager of the Pennsylvania food services company, pleaded guilty to accepting around $400,000 in bribes and kickbacks from Global Staffing Services and Penns Independent Staffing, in exchange for hiring their employees. The two temporary staffing companies, in turn, received approximately $7,800,000 from Holmes’s employer. Holmes awaits sentencing.
2. Madeline Nieves, 49, of Plains, pleaded guilty to a tax fraud conspiracy. Nieves conspired with other individuals to defraud the IRS, from 2018 to 2020, in connection with staffing company Encore Staffing Solutions LLC, which she owned and operated. Nieves was sentenced to 15 months of imprisonment.
3. Nari Lam, 31, of Delaware, pleaded guilty to failing to remit employment taxes to the IRS from 2016 through 2020. Lam as the owner of the staffing company Penns Independent Staffing, failed to pay approximately $300,000 in employment taxes owed by Penns Independent Staffing to the IRS. Nari Lam was sentenced to three years of probation.
4. Danny Sing, 60, of Philadelphia, pleaded guilty to conspiring with other individuals to evade federal income taxes for approximately $1,600,000 in wages paid by Global Staffing Services, Inc. to its employees, and to failing to withhold and remit $1,360,000 in federal employment taxes to the IRS. Sing awaits sentencing.
5. Den Lam, 49, of Philadelphia, was charged for allegedly conspiring with other people to evade federal income taxes for $1,600,000 in wages paid by Global Staffing Services to its employees.
6. Jason R. Bonnewell, 41, of North Abington Township, pleaded guilty to accepting as a supervisor of the Pennsylvania food services company, around $150,000 in bribes and kickbacks from Global Staffing Services and Penns Independent Staffing, in exchange for hiring their employees. The two temporary staffing companies received approximately $13,000,000 from Bonnewell’s employer. Bonnewell awaits sentencing.

The maximum penalty for these crimes is 20 years of prison, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine.

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