What there is to know
- A New York-based house-cleaning company and its chief executive have pleaded guilty to stealing employee wages, prosecutors say.
- Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said MPStar Pros CEO Christian Perez, 37, of Queens Boulevard in Forest Hills, pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and was sentenced to probation. His house cleaning business, MPStar Pros, also pleaded guilty to felony and plan fraud.
- According to Katz, the two withheld more than $54,000 from employees between 2020 and 2022. Additionally, MPStar Pros must also pay $10,000. The Queens District Attorney’s Office will hold this amount in escrow in case additional victims are identified.
NEW YORK — A New York-based house-cleaning company and its chief executive have pleaded guilty to stealing employee wages, prosecutors say.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said MPStar Pros CEO Christian Perez, 37, of Queens Boulevard in Forest Hills, pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and was sentenced to probation. His house cleaning business, MPStar Pros, also pleaded guilty to felony and plan fraud.
According to Katz, the two withheld more than $54,000 from employees between 2020 and 2022. Additionally, MPStar Pros must also pay $10,000. The Queens District Attorney’s Office will hold this amount in escrow in case additional victims are identified.
As part of the deal, they must return all 23 victims.
According to the charges, MPStar Pros advertised through social media sites for people who cleaned residential apartments, including short-term apartment rental operators. Many victims had to work at the height of the COVID pandemic. However, when the workers finished their work, the company did not pay them their wages.
“At the height of the pandemic, these workers risked their lives to support their families only to fall victim to a senseless scam,” Katza said. “I created a worker protection office to punish this kind of shameless exploitation. An honest day’s work deserves an honest day’s pay, and that’s what we make sure that’s the case for these workers.
Meanwhile, Roberta Reardon, commissioner of the New York State Department of Labor, said “any employer who steals from their workers will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of New York State law.”