The California Attorney General announced the filing of 31 criminal charges and two enhancements against US Framing West and two employees,Thomas Gregory English and Amelia Frazier Krebs, for multiple violations of state labor laws. The announcement follows their surrender and arraignment in Los Angeles Superior Court earlier this month.
Between 2018 and 2022, US Framing West provided framing construction for multiple projects across California allegedly using crews of unlicensed subcontractors. While working these projects, US Framing West allegedly committed grand theft, payroll tax evasion, prevailing wage theft, and filed false documents with the State.
In the complaint, the Attorney General alleges that US Framing West failed to pay more than $2.5 million in state payroll taxes during this period and underpaid its workers by approximately $40,000 at a public works project in Cathedral City.
US Framing West is a construction company that specializes in framing contracting. DOJ’s investigation revealed that US Framing West had secured a number of high-paying framing jobs on large construction projects in California and then subcontracted out the physical labor to unlicensed subcontractors.
Starting in 2018 and through to 2022, US Framing West is alleged to have hired numerous unlicensed contractors for projects throughout the State and failed to file and submit taxes to the California Employment Development Department (EDD) for these employees.
DOJ’s investigation into US Framing West began after the Northern California Carpenters Regional Council alerted DOJ to potential wage theft violations occurring at an Oakland construction project. DOJ, with support from the California Department of Insurance, California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR), and EDD, subsequently conducted a joint investigation into US Framing West for allegations relating to violations of state labor laws and tax evasion on construction projects spanning Alameda, Los Angeles, Contra Costa, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, and Santa Clara counties.
Additionally, DOJ alleges that US Framing West engaged in prevailing wage theft and filing false documents with DIR in connection with a public works project in Cathedral City. Public works projects – projects that use more than $1,000 of public funds – require all workers on the project to be paid the “prevailing wage.”