Sicklerville Resident Guilty of Business Tax Fraud

A Gloucester Township resident and owner of a New Jersey-based temporary-employment agency admitted Thursday to evading employment taxes for her business, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Vanna Kem, 42, entered her guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson in Trenton federal court to an indictment charging her with one count of tax evasion.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Despite being the true owner of Tri State Labor Services Inc., Kem incorporated the business and maintained the corporate bank account in the name of a nominee. From the first quarter of 2006 through the last quarter of 2008, Kem paid Tri State employees more than $1 million in cash wages without withholding employment taxes. She also failed to file IRS 941 forms—Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Returns—in which she was required to report the wages paid to her employees.

As part of her guilty plea, Kem, who lives in the Sicklerville section of Gloucester Township, agreed to pay $163,837.47 in restitution to the IRS.

The tax evasion charge carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Kem's sentencing is currently scheduled for Sept. 28.

Fishman credited special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge JoAnn Zuniga, for their work in the investigation of this case. The government is represented by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Tino M. Lisella of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Trenton.