Press Release

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that married couple Christian Perez and Ines Miranda Perez were indicted on charges of grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and other crimes as part of a wage theft scheme to allegedly steal money from employees of two cleaning companies. The two companies associated with the couple are also charged in the indictment.

District Attorney Katz said: “My Housing and Worker Protection Bureau is focused on prosecuting business owners who exploit workers and returning wages to those who rightfully earned them. As alleged, this married couple operated two cleaning companies and failed to pay hard-working employees thousands of dollars. If you have been a victim of wage theft, please contact my office at 718-286-6673. We thank our partners at the New York State Department of Labor for their assistance in this case.”

New York State Commissioner of Labor Roberta Reardon said: “Fighting for every penny earned by hard-working New Yorkers is at the core of the Department of Labor’s work. This indictment sends a clear message that these injustices will not be tolerated in New York State. Harm to one is harm to us all. I thank District Attorney Katz for her partnership in ensuring every worker gets the pay they earned and rightfully deserve.”

Christian Perez, 39, and Ines Perez Miranda, 42, originally from Queens and now living in North Carolina, were charged in a 14-count indictment with two counts of scheme to defraud in the first degree, grand larceny in the third degree, two counts in the fourth degree, criminal possession of stolen property in the third degree, two counts of criminal possession of stolen property in the fourth degree, criminal possession of stolen property in the fifth degree, petit larceny and four counts of failure to pay wages in accordance with the labor law.

Additionally, Cleaning Pass LLC and Cleaning Pass Set It and Forget It LLC — two companies controlled by Christian Perez — were charged in the same indictment.

Perez Miranda was arraigned yesterday by Queens Supreme Court Justice Gary Miret, who ordered her to return to court July 28. If convicted, she faces up to seven years in prison.

Perez was in custody in North Carolina and is awaiting extradition to New York. If convicted, he faces up to seven years in prison.

According to the charges, Perez filed articles of organization forming Cleaning Pass LLC on July 26, 2022, and Cleaning Pass Set It and Forget It LLC on July 23, 2023. Perez was the principal of both companies and managed all bank accounts, filed legal statements and oversaw client bookings and payroll matters. His wife served as a managerial agent for the two companies and supervised employees when they worked.

Perez placed advertisements seeking cleaners and hired four individuals with the promise that the employees would be paid their wages within seven days. The employees were also advised they would be reimbursed for the cleaning supplies they purchased. The workers were required to download computer applications to document when they started and stopped working at different residential and business locations.

Once hired, Perez used the computer systems to track client bookings and employee work time. Employees also used the same systems to document their time. They were also required to ask permission before they could physically leave their work locations.

Perez and his wife allegedly used multiple strategies to deny employees their wages. In some cases employees were directed to hold onto payroll checks until given express permission to cash them. The couple also gave employees checks issued with a future date or issued checks from an account with insufficient funds. On other occasions they allegedly failed to pay wages at all and demanded employees immediately leave their work locations without compensation. The defendants also allegedly failed to reimburse the employees for their cleaning supplies as promised.

Between September 6, 2023, and April 25, 2023, the victims sent multiple text and video messages to Perez and Perez Miranda requesting their wages and reimbursement for their expenses. One worker is allegedly owed more than $3,000; two are each owed in excess of $1,000; and a fourth is due more than $500.

The investigation was conducted by Senior Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Christina Hanophy with the assistance of former Queens County District Attorney Detective Investigator Noman Ahmad, and QDA Detective Thomas Kaup. The Queens County District Attorney’s Office thanks Senior Labor Standards Investigator Jorge Gordillo Alvarado of the New York State Department of Labor, Division of Labor Standards, under the supervision of Chief Labor Standards Investigator Frank King for their valuable assistance.

Assistant District Attorney Christina Hanophy, Senior Deputy Bureau Chief of the District Attorney’s Housing and Worker Protection Bureau, is prosecuting the case, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney William Jorgenson, Bureau Chief, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Gerard Brave.