The indictment alleges that staffing companies owned and controlled by Harrison that operated in at least nine states failed to pay more than $15.1 million in payroll taxes for employees of those companies. Harrison is also alleged to have used company funds to purchase personal residences, to buy a yacht and to finance movies.
Harrison was arrested on Nov. 10. A Nov. 16 judicial order states that the defendant was to be released after paying a $100,000 bond. Other conditions of Harrison’s release included home detention with exceptions for employment, religious services and other circumstances; surrender of his passport; no travel on airplanes; a travel restriction within the Middle District of North Carolina; no possession of firearms; refraining from excessive use of alcohol; and agreement to submit to random drug testing.
The indictment suggests that Harrison’s modus operandi included shifting companies around to evade accountability:
On or about August 15, 2006, Bruce Gregory Harrison III caused an Employer Identification Number (EIN) to be provided to the Internal Revenue Service revenue officer which he purported to be the EIN of the company that purported purchased Hobbs Staffing Services Inc. d/b/a USA Staffing, but in fact was that of staffing company owned by Bruce Gregory Harrison III’s mother and operated in the Myrtle Beach, SC area. In fact, as Bruce Gregory Harrison III well knew, his mother’s company did not purchase Hobbs Staffing Services Inc., d/b/a USA Staffing, or any other company from Bruce Gregory Harrison III, and his mother’s company was not responsible for the payroll taxes of Hobbs Staffing Services, d/b/a USA Staffing.
Another tack appears to be keeping his name off of official document for companies that he controlled to keep his assets hidden:
In November 2006, Bruce Gregory Harrison III sold the assets of Hobbs Staffing Services Inc. d/b/a USA Staffing, US Labor Inc., US Staff-Holding Corporation and the subsidiary staffing companies under the direction of Bruce Gregory Harrison III.
Beginning in 2008, Bruce Gregory Harrison III resumed operation of staffing companies in Greensboro, North Carolina through two corporations incorporated under the laws of the state of Delaware: Compensation Management Inc. and Compensation Management of Iowa Inc. Each of these corporations had its headquarters in Greensboro, North Carolina. In 2009, another Delaware corporation to provide staffing services was formed named IHT of SC Inc. IHT of SC Inc had its headquarters in Guilford County, North Carolina.
Although not formally an officer of Compensation Management Inc., Compensation Management of Iowa Inc. and IHT of SC Inc., Bruce Gregory Harrison III controlled the operations of each of the corporations including the payroll to employees of all major financial and banking transactions and was the de facto owner of these corporations despite his designation of nominee owners….
At all times relevant to this indictment, Bruce Gregory III’s staffing companies withheld taxes from employers’ paycheck, including federal income taxes and Medicare and Social Security taxes (often referred to as Federal Insurance Contributions Act taxes or “FICA” taxes). These taxes will be referred to in this indictment collectively as “payroll taxes.”
The Business Journal reported in December 2006 that USA Staffing and US Labor had been sold to StaffCo Management Group, which operated them under the name of American Staffing Resources. Harrison told YES! Weekly in 2009 that he had served on the company’s board as a creditor.
In June 2007, agents of Immigration Customs Enforcement raided a Fresh Del Monte Produce packing plant in Portland, Ore. whose workers were supplied by American Staffing Resources.
As reported in YES! Weekly:
[An] investigation found evidence that workers were paid $7 an hour — 80 cents below Oregon minimum wage. Workers, mainly women and mainly from Mexico and Guatemala — including a number of children — reportedly endured three inches of water on the production floor, and wore regular sneakers or shoes that were soaked with water even though the workers were supposed to have been provided with boots. The confidential informant told agents that he found electrical cords laying beneath standing water and dirty conditions in the bathroom and cafeteria.
It appears that no criminal charges were taken out against the corporate leadership of either Fresh Del Monte Produce or American Staffing Resources.
Harrison told YES! Weekly in February 2009:
… that after the raid, American Staffing Resources’ lenders foreclosed on the company; he bought 60 percent of the assets; and a group of investors asked Harrison to run the new company, which is called Compensation Management, located at 307 S. Swing Road in Greensboro. Harrison said he is the chairman of the board.
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