Phila. man sentenced for bribing N.J. employee

A Philadelphia man was sentenced to two years in prison Thursday for bribing a New Jersey labor department employee and failing to pay payroll taxes, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Channavel "Danny" Kong, 40, previously admitted paying Joseph Rivera, a senior investigator with the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, a $55,300 bribe not to conduct audits and inspections of Sunrise Labor, Kong's Philadelphia temporary-labor firm, between 2006 and January 2009. The company supplied labor in New Jersey. He also admitted that he failed to collect unemployment taxes resulting in a loss to the IRS of $80,000 to $200,000. In addition to his prison term, Kong was ordered to serve three years' supervised release, repay his outstanding federal tax, and refund $15,000 to New Jersey, officials said. - Darran Simon