Warren Hebert, a 66 year-old Barrington resident, is facing a nine-count indictment alleging that he defrauded at least nine businesses and one municipal agency of money that was supposed to be paid to the IRS.
A federal grand jury in Providence returned the nine-count indictment on Wednesday, June 18, alleging that Mr. Hebert, owner of Checkmaster Payroll Service, a payroll company which provided payroll services to private companies and at least one municipal agency, devised a scheme to defraud at least nine businesses and the Seekonk (Mass.) Water District of federal payroll taxes that were to have been paid to the IRS.
According to a press release from US Attorney Peter Neronha’s office, the indictment alleges that Mr. Hebert withdrew money from client accounts that was to have been used to pay the clients’ federal employment taxes and diverted the funds for other purposes.
Mr. Hebert allegedly provided clients with “client copy” tax returns indicating that the taxes had been paid to the IRS, when they had not. And when his clients began receiving tax delinquency notices, Mr. Hebert allegedly told them that the notices were the result of administrative errors by the IRS.
According to the indictment, beginning in at least April 2009, and continuing through at least Oct. 2011, Mr. Hebert allegedly diverted money from at least nine businesses operating in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The businesses included a moving and storage company, a nursery school, a jewelry packaging company, and a marketing and communications company, as well as the Seekonk Water District.
The indictment charges Mr. Hebert with eight counts of wire fraud and one count of impeding the administration of the Internal Revenue Code. Wire fraud is punishable by a statutory penalty of up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Impeding the administration of the Internal Revenue Code is punishable by a statutory penalty of up to 3 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
(An indictment is an allegation and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.)
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John P. McAdams.
The matter was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation, with the assistance of the FBI, Rhode Island FDA Task Force, Rhode Island State Police and Barrington police.