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September 7, 2021

Ex-payroll exec faces tax charge in ‘ghost employee’ scheme

PHOTO | Pixabay.com
By Michelle Tuccitto Sullo

A federal grand jury has indicted the former payroll manager of a Stratford-based home healthcare company, Equinox Home Care, on a tax conspiracy charge.

Innis Frederick, 61, of Saint Cloud, Florida, faces one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and impede the Internal Revenue Service.

On Friday, Frederick entered a “not guilty” plea in a proceeding held via videoconference before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert M. Spector.

Frederick is free on a $20,000 bond. If convicted, he potentially faces up to five years in prison.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, Frederick worked as the payroll manager for Equinox Home Care LLC. The company had originally been established as a partnership between Frederick’s sister, Theresa Foreman, and another individual. 

This partnership dissolved in September 2012. Per a court order, Foreman was obligated to make payments to buy out her former partner’s interest in the company.

The indictment alleges that between 2012 and 2016, Frederick assisted Foreman by processing payroll that caused checks to be issued to what the government describes as “ghost employees,” who didn’t actually work for the company. Instead, that money went to Foreman, who didn’t report hundreds of thousands of dollars of income on her tax returns, according to the government.

Foreman pleaded guilty to tax evasion, and was sentenced in January 2020 to serve a year in prison.

According to federal prosecutors, by submitting false payroll data, Frederick also caused false W-2 and W-3 forms to be submitted to the IRS.

Assistant Federal Defender Daniel M. Erwin, who is representing Frederick, declined to comment.

Contact Michelle Tuccitto Sullo at msullo@newhavenbiz.com.

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