Criminal charges have been lodged against a construction company for wage theft and allegedly failing to pay millions in state payroll taxes.
The possible violations of state labor laws by US Framing West occurred in San Diego and Riverside counties and across the state, officials said Tuesday. Two company employees are also charged.
The announcement follows the surrender and arraignment of the defendants in Los Angeles Superior Court earlier this month, according to California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
Between 2018 and 2022, Bonta alleges, US Framing West allegedly engaged in grand theft, tax evasion and prevailing wage theft while filing false documents with the state.
In a 31-count complaint, the state alleges that the company failed to pay more than $2.5 million in payroll taxes over the four-year period and underpaid its workers by about $40,000 at a public works project in Cathedral City.
A representative of the Kentucky-based company could not be reached for comment.
“California has some of the strongest worker protections in the country, but there are still too many who are willing to skirt the law to make an extra buck,” Bonta said in a statement. “My office will not stand by when businesses – or the individuals who run them – steal from workers and defraud the state.”
The state Department of Justice investigation found that US Framing West secured a number of high-paying framing jobs on large projects in Southern California and elsewhere, then subcontracted out the labor to unlicensed subcontractors, according to Bonta’s office.
US Framing West also is alleged to have failed to file and submit taxes to the California Employment Development Department.
Bonta said the investigation began after the Northern California Carpenters Regional Council alerted the DOJ to potential wage theft on an Oakland job site. The DOJ, with support from other state agencies, subsequently conducted a joint investigation that spanned several counties, including Los Angeles and Orange counties.
