O'Fallon Journal
O'FALLON, Missouri -- What began as an investigation by the Carpenters District Council of Greater St. Louis and Vicinity into the potential presence of illegal workers at an O'Fallon construction site has now spurred involvement from state and county law enforcement officials.
O'Fallon City Administrator Robert Lowery Jr. asked county and state officials earlier this week to look into allegations that Hennessey Development Inc. is employing illegal immigrants in the development of the Southernside apartment complex off Weldon Spring Road near Highway K.
The affordable housing development has received $22 million in federal and state tax credits and $13.5 million in tax-free bonds from the county Industrial Development Authority.
An investigation by Mid-West Protective Service Inc. of Ellisville purports that some 30 workers at the project were using fraudulent Social Security numbers belonging to others on their tax forms. President of the company Tim Flora declined to comment. Carpenters District executive secretary-treasurer Terry Nelson said his organization requested data on the workers under the Freedom of Information Act and then hired Mid-West Protective Service to sift through the data.
Posted by tyne at August 17, 2007