Rep. Michael Grimm, R-N.Y., has been indicted by the Justice Department for mail, wire and health care fraud and perjury, among other charges.
The Republican congressman, who has maintained his innocence, was booked at the New York FBI office in lower Manhattan Monday morning, according to the Associated Press.
The 20-count indictment, unsealed late Monday morning, includes five counts of mail fraud, five counts of wire fraud, three counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false federal tax returns, one count of conspiring to defraud the United States, one count of impeding the Internal Revenue Service, one count of health care fraud, one count of engaging in a pattern or practice of hiring and continuing to employ unauthorized aliens, two counts of perjury and one count of obstructing an official proceeding.
The charges are all related to Grimm's position as the owner and managing member of a restaurant in Manhattan called "Healthalicious" from 2007 to 2010. He has been charged with engaging in schemes to under-report his workers wages - many of whom did not have legal status - as well as the amount of money the restaurant earned to both New York State tax and insurance authorities, the Justice Department said. The charges also include under-reporting both the true amount of the payroll to the New York State Insurance Fund, which allowed him to receive lower monthly workers' compensation premiums, and the amount of gross receipts earned to the federal and New York State governments, which "dramatically" lowered the federal and state taxes owed and paid by the restaurant. Grimm is charged with concealing over $1 million in sales and wages in total, as well as lying under oath about his business practices when he was deposed in 2013.
Grimm, a former FBI agent, attorney and U.S. Marine, was elected in 2010 and became the sole Republican representative of a large swath of New York City.
Although he has been indicted, Grimm will not lose his rights or privileges as a member of Congress, according to a report by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service cited by the Associated Press.
