Asbestos Removal Company Owner Charged of Tax Fraud

Asbestos Removal Company Owner Charged of Tax Fraud (January 28, 2011) The owner of an asbestos removal company was facing a two-year imprisonment for failing to report over $500,000 of income on his taxes. Michael J. Palmieri, the 55-year old co-owner of a company that specializes in asbestos abatement in Melrose Park, Illinois, was accused by the federal district court of tax fraud because of his failure to report $1.6 million in income and was instructed to pay over $205,000 into the Laborers Union pension fund. In addition, he was also accused of failing to withhold taxes, which amounts to $546,000 in worker wages. According to the reports, Palmieri will have to publicly apologize for his actions and pay an additional $215,000 as a fine. In October 2010, Palmieri faced the same allegation where he pled guilty to one count of tax fraud and paid out $458,000 in compensation as part of his plea agreement. On the other hand, federal district court judge Suzanne Conlon said they have received more than 80 letters of aid for Palmieri, asking for clemency due to his eye disease. One of the supporters, Monsignor Kenneth Velo of the Chicago Archdiocese, appeared in the courtroom to seek pardon for Palmieri. The presiding judge decided to give Palmieri six months of home confinement and three years of probation as a consideration to Palimieri’s wellness condition. Based on the report, in most cases in which the owners of asbestos removal companies are charged with tax fraud, it is also found that they have flaunted asbestos removal law as well. Studies showed that people who were exposed to high concentrations of asbestos on a daily basis were at risk of acquiring asbestos-related diseases such as asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma. Studies have shown that asbestos exposure is even more unsafe when it is destroyed and disturbed, like in the case of Palmieri, whose work entirely involves removal of asbestos.

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