Husband and Wife Plead Guilty to Healthcare Fraud and Tax Fraud

Anyone who has ever received a medical bill has noticed that the math that goes into calculating how much patients and insurance companies are responsible for paying is perplexing.  It is unsurprising then, that some healthcare fraud scams go on for years before anyone gets caught.  In some healthcare fraud cases, doctors bill insurance companies for treatments they never provided or for medical devices that patients never received.  The healthcare industry is also vulnerable to fraud employees who have access to patients’ identifying information sell that information to identity thieves.  Depending on how you look at it, the defendants in this week’s news story were either the first people or the last people you would expect to commit healthcare fraud; they were the ultimate insiders.  No matter who you are, if you get charged with fraud, embezzlement, or another financial crime, you have the right to representation by a Pittsburgh financial crimes defense lawyer.

Fun Fact: Embezzled Funds Are Taxable Income

The crime of tax fraud covers a variety of actions in which the defendant makes false statements or omits true statements to the IRS in order to reduce or evade his or her tax obligations.  It can include the following activities:

• Failing to disclose income, no matter its source
• Claiming that certain expenses were tax-deductible business expenses, when they were personal expenses
• Any other false statements on an income tax return

If you steal money from your employer, you are guilty of the crime of embezzlement.  From the perspective of the IRS, though, the embezzled funds count as taxable income.  Therefore, if you embezzle money from your employer and report it to the IRS, you are leaving a paper trail that could lead to you getting prosecuted for embezzlement.  Meanwhile, if you embezzle money from your employer and you don’t report it to the IRS, you are guilty of embezzlement and tax fraud.

In the News

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Stephanie Roskovski was the COO of Butler Health System.  Over the course of several years, she allegedly embezzled $1.3 million from her employer.  Her husband Scott was a Butler County Detective whose job duties included investigating financial crimes.  The Roskovskis allegedly used the embezzled money to fund home renovations and establish a motorcross business.  They lied about the source of their income both on their joint income tax return and on loan applications for business loans they tried to borrow for the motorcross company.  In May, they pleaded guilty to wire fraud and to making false statements on their tax returns.  Their sentencing has been postponed several times, but it is unlikely that they will receive the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison because of the plea deal.

Let Us Help You Today

Making false statements on a tax return can lead to major legal trouble, but a Pittsburgh white collar crime lawyer can help.  Contact the law offices of Gary E. Gerson about your case.

Resource:

justice.gov/usao-wdpa/pr/butler-county-couple-plead-guilty-fraud-and-tax-charges

https://www.pittsburghdefenselawyers.com/covid-19-in-pennsylvania-prisons-a-scary-situation/