Papa John's franchise owner pleads guilty to wage violations

A Bronx Papa John's franchise owner yesterday pleaded guilty to charges of failing to pay minimum wage and overtime to hundreds of current and former employees, marking the first criminal case by a state attorney general against a fast-food franchisee for cheating workers, New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman said.

Abdul Jamil Khokhar and his company BMY Foods Inc. allegedly didn't pay wages for about 300 workers in nine pizza restaurants throughout the borough.

He was accused of paying a flat rate for all hours worked, including overtime hours, which amounted to about $230,000 in lost wages.

"Mr. Khokhar's effort to hide his crimes may have been crude, but his lies and deception were devastating to the hardworking New Yorkers that depended on his restaurants for a paycheck," Schneiderman said. "When you take money out of the pockets of hardworking New Yorkers, you're taking food off the tables of their families. Today's announcement sends a loud and clear message to every fast-food franchise: If you steal wages you will be held accountable and you can go to jail."

Schneiderman said Khokhar would create fake names to pay workers for any hours they worked after they reached 35 or 40 hours.

Khokhar, who apparently started this scheme after he was first inspected by the Department of Labor in 2013, then paid the overtime hours in cash to prevent creating a record, Schneiderman said.

Khokhar is also accused of filing fraudulent tax returns that didn't include cash payments made under the fake names.

He will be sentenced to 60 days in jail. His attorneys did not immediately respond to a comment request.