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Peekskill Home Health Care Agency Owner Pleads Guilty To Wage Theft

PEEKSKILL, N.Y. -- The owner of a home health care agency in Peekskill has entered a guilty plea for failing to pay wages to at least 67 employees, engaging in a scheme to induce workers to work despite not being paid, falsifying business records and defrauding the state unemployment insurance contribution system, according to New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

The owner of a Peekskill home healthcare business has pleaded guilty to numerous charges in connection to a scheme to deprive workers of their wages.

The owner of a Peekskill home healthcare business has pleaded guilty to numerous charges in connection to a scheme to deprive workers of their wages.

Photo Credit: File

Arthur Anyah, owner of Mical Home Health Care Agency, pleaded guilty Thursday to the top counts in an indictment that included class E felony counts of scheme to defraud, first-degree falsifying business records and first-degree offering a false instrument for filing, as well as to misdemeanor counts of failure to pay wages and willful failure to pay a contribution to the unemployment insurance fund, Schneiderman said.

As a condition of the plea, Anyah was ordered to pay restitution of more than $135,000 of back wages owed to workers and $66,000 in state unemployment insurance fund contributions and penalties.

Anyah pleaded guilty in Westchester County Supreme Court before Judge Barry E. Warhit and is scheduled for sentencing Dec. 8.

If Anyah fails to pay restitution by the date of sentencing, it may result in a sentence of up to one year in jail.

Mical, 2 N. Division St., Peekskill, provided home health care services to patients who were elderly, sick, infirm or disabled, Schneiderman said.

The caregivers helped patients with basic daily needs such as bathing, getting dressed and preparing their food.

Between December 2012 and June 2015, Anyah hired workers to provide those services to patients but failed to consistently pay the workers after they performed those vital duties, inducing the aides to keep working without pay by promising the aides that they would eventually get paid, Schneiderman said.

In addition to failing to pay the workers for all of their hours, Anyah created false tax documents, such as W-2 Forms, and reported wages that were never actually paid to the workers, and also failed to pay the required quarterly state unemployment insurance contributions for all employees, Schneiderman said.

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