Feds charge Bensenville pair with hiring illegal immigrants

Two Bensenville businessmen are facing federal charges of unlawfully hiring dozens of illegal immigrants to make up the labor pool of two temporary worker services.

Clinton Roy Perkins, 65, of Wayne is the president of both companies: Anna II Inc. and Can Do It Inc., both located at 801 Golf Lane in Bensenville. Perkins' 40-year-old son-in-law Christopher J. Reindl is the office manager for both companies, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

The two are accused of unlawfully hiring the illegal immigrants between October 2006 and October 2007 to perform skilled and unskilled labor at various warehouses throughout the suburbs. In addition, federal prosecutors allege the duo paid the illegal workers in cash and failed to deduct payroll taxes or other funds.

The charges come after a lengthy investigation by the Chicago bureau of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the release stated.

The government is also seeking a forfeiture of $488,095 from Perkins' various bank accounts, according to the release.

Investigators said the two directed low-level supervisory employees to transport the illegal immigrants to and from locations near the temporary workers' homes in Chicago and work sites in the suburbs. Perkins and Reindl provided bogus six-digit numbers to companies, supposedly the last six digits of the workers' Social Security numbers, knowing the workers were in the country illegally, according to the release.

The government further alleges the pair would withdraw cash from bank accounts in $9,800 increments, believing that "withdrawing amounts less than $10,000 would avoid triggering the banks' currency transaction reporting requirements," the release stated.

If convicted, the pair could face a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Perkins and Reindl are scheduled to be arraigned in federal court in Chicago at a later date.

Perkins said he had no comment on the advice of his lawyer.