The Justice Department (DOJ) announced Friday that a Florida man and woman admitted to a scheme to defraud the U.S. government by dodging employment taxes owed to the IRS.
According to the department, William Skaggs Jr., owner of Nastar Roofing, and Billie Adkison, the company’s main office administrator, orchestrated a scheme that hid more than $21 million in cash wages from the IRS over a decade.
From 2013 to 2023, the Fort Myers-based roofing company withdrew millions from its accounts to pay employees mostly in cash, avoiding legally required withholdings for Social Security, Medicare, and federal income taxes, the department said.
The department’s investigation reportedly revealed that, on occasion, Nastar Roofing issued nominal paychecks through a payroll provider, but Skaggs and Adkison failed to disclose the cash wages to the provider.
Consequently, the payroll company’s employment tax returns, filed with the IRS, did not account for the cash wages paid to employees, significantly understating their payroll taxes owed, according to the department.