Santa Ana, California – A sprawling Orange County staffing empire collapsed under federal scrutiny this week, as prosecutors unsealed an eight-count indictment accusing its owner and several relatives of orchestrating a $90 million tax fraud scheme — and blowing the money on mansions, luxury cars, and jet-set vacations from Dubai to Aspen.
The Justice Department says Lorena Padilla, 49, the owner of multiple staffing firms across Los Angeles and Riverside counties, spent more than a decade cheating clients, the IRS, and California’s Employment Development Department by pocketing payroll taxes withheld from thousands of temporary workers, many of them undocumented immigrants. Padilla — arrested Wednesday at her Villa Park home — faces charges of wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, and six counts of failing to pay federal employment taxes. Prosecutors say she didn’t act alone. Her daughter, Selina Medina Preciado, 30; her brother, Carlos Padilla, 40; and associate Pablo Araque, 55, were also arrested. Two more defendants are expected in court soon, while law enforcement is searching for a seventh, Janine Garcia.
According to the indictment, Padilla promised clients that her companies — Platinum Staffing, Payroll Staffing Solutions, Three Star Global, and Next Level Staffing — would handle payroll, file tax returns, pay workers’ comp, and manage HR. Instead, prosecutors say, the group systematically pocketed the money. Investigators allege that from 2020 to 2025 alone, the crew understated employment taxes by more than $44 million, ultimately costing the U.S. Treasury more than $90 million…