Car wash firm, managers plead guilty to fraud

A Horsham car wash company and three of its managers have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the government, harbor illegal immigrants, and commit identity theft.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia said Car Care managers operated a scheme between 2000 and March 2006 that allowed car washes to hire illegal workers by giving them false names and a way to cash their checks at local banks without identification. The banks were given a list of employees who were authorized to cash paychecks without showing identification other than clothing bearing the company logo.

Car Care is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mace Security International Inc., a former Mount Laurel company now based in Florida.

Judy Smith, an assistant U.S. attorney, said the company had since sold the car washes, which were in Bryn Mawr, Flourtown, Norristown and Cherry Hill.

Car Care was ordered yesterday to pay a fine of $100,000 and to forfeit $500,000 to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Three Car Care managers have pleaded guilty: Nicholas Sama, 50, of Tabernacle, N.J., regional manager; Timothy Gibson, 36, of Levittown; and Lee Gordon, 36, of Philadelphia.

They have not been sentenced and face a maximum of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release.