Innis Frederick, 61, of Saint Cloud, Florida, pleaded guilty via videoconference before US District Judge Victor A. Bolden to a tax offense, which stemmed from his employment at a Stratford-based home healthcare company. According to court documents and statements made in court, Frederick worked as the payroll manager for Equinox Home Care, LLC (“ECH”), a home healthcare company based in Stratford that was originally established as a partnership between Frederick’s sister, Theresa Foreman, and another individual. In September 2012, the partnership ended, and, by court order, Foreman was obligated to make payments to her partner for the purchase of the partner’s interest in EHC.
Between approximately 2012 and 2016, Frederick assisted Foreman by processing payroll that caused checks to be issued to “ghost employees,” who did not actually work for ECH. The money paid to the ghost employees was actually paid to Foreman, who did not report the hundreds of thousands of dollars of income on her tax returns. By submitting false payroll data, Frederick also caused false Forms W-2 and W-3 to be submitted to the Internal Revenue Service. Frederick pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and impede and impair the IRS, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years. Frederick has agreed that the tax loss attributable to him as a result of his involvement in this scheme is approximately $248,827.
