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Prosecutor: Passaic Temp Agency Owner Bilked Trucking Company, Own Workers

PASSAIC, NJ. -- The owner of a temp agency with offices in Passaic and Woodland Park overbilled a trucking company by $700,000 for phantom employees who never showed up for work, authorities charged.

Pedro L. Carbajal

Pedro L. Carbajal

Photo Credit: COURTESY: Passaic County Prosecutor's Office

Pedro L. Carbajal, 43, and his Options Staffing company also defrauded their own employees by failing to give the state payroll deductions withheld from their paychecks. 

As a result, they "were declined when they applied for disability and unemployment benefits," Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes said Wednesday.

Carbajal also failed to maintain workers comp for employees injured on the job, the prosecutor said.

He also failed to file corporate business tax returns for several years and a personal New Jersey income tax return for 2016, she said. 

Carbajal -- - who remained held in the Passaic County Jail on theft-by-deception charges Thursday -- is the principal and sole owner of Options Staffing, with offices at 1130 McBride Avenue in Woodland Park and 30 Howe Avenue in Passaic. 

His next court appearance is scheduled for this Monday in Paterson.

"The case is a fraud and tax evasion investigation by the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office – Financial Crimes Unit, with assistance from the NJ Department of Treasury, NJ Division of Taxation, and the NJ Department of Labor Workforce Development," said.

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