The CEO of a Chantilly-based government contractor will pay over $1 million in restitution to eight former employees after pleading guilty in Fairfax County, Virginia’s largest-ever wage theft case, Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano said Monday.

Thomas Burns was the CEO of SP Global, which specialized in technology implementation. Starting in October 2020, the company stopped paying its 40-plus workers.

According to a news release from Descano’s office, Burns and other executives promised for months that payment and backpay was coming, saying there were issues with international banking regulations and travel restrictions caused by the pandemic.

Employees worked without pay for months, consoled by those promises, Descano said, before eventually quitting without ever being compensated.

The company defrauded 42 workers of more than $5 million, Descano said. Eight workers chose to be included in the county’s restitution agreement totaling $1,070,429.21, while the other 34 chose to proceed with a lawsuit, which is pending.

“Stealing is stealing, and financial crimes can be just as devastating for victims’ families — those who don’t get paid can miss rent or mortgage payments, putting their safety and security at risk,” Descano said in a news release.

Burns was also sentenced to four years in prison, with one year suspended. He pleaded guilty to two counts of wage theft of more than $10,000 and one county of conspiracy to commit wage theft.