6 accused of swindling temp labor firms
A federal grand jury has indicted six Colorado Springs men accused of bilking temporary labor companies out of millions in payroll funds for fictitious work orders on fake government contracts.
The 25-count indictment handed up this week charges David A. Banks, Demetrius K. Harper, Gary L. Walker, Clinton A. Stewart, David A. Zirpolo and Kendrick Barnes with conspiracy, wire fraud and mail fraud.
The final count seeks $5.3 million in proceeds from 41 staffing companies that allegedly were defrauded by the scheme from October 2002 to February 2005, when the investigation began.
All six men were issued summonses ordering them to appear in U.S. District Court in Denver on June 23.
According to the indictment, the men worked for a variety of companies under names such as IRP Solutions Corp., DKH Enterprises and Leading Team Inc. All three companies used a second-floor office at 7350 Campus Drive, the indictment said.
The defendants could not be reached for comment. Calls to IRP Solutions on Thursday went unanswered.
According to the indictment, here is how the alleged scheme worked:
The companies would contact the staffing companies to provide payroll services.
The defendants are accused of making false claims that they had contracts with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, the U.S. Department of Justice and the New York City Police Department.
They would then submit invoices to the staffing companies, making allegedly false claims for hours worked.
The staffing companies paid the defendants and then submitted bills to companies like IRP and Leading Team, which said their payments were late because they were waiting on slow government paying cycles.
Later, the defendants would refuse to meet with staffing company representatives to discuss the bills and refused to let them enter their offices, according to the indictment.
If convicted, the defendants could face up to 20 years in prison plus fines of up to double their gains from the crime.
