|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The CEO of a San Jose company that ran foster care homes pleaded guilty on Tuesday to wire fraud and failure to pay employment taxes, the Department of Justice announced.
Annie Corbett, 55, formerly of Redwood City, was charged in October of 2020 with wire fraud in connection with her Corbett Group Homes, Inc. business, a company that provided foster care for children and adolescents in group homes.
According to her plea, Corbett knowingly failed to pay employment taxes, which she withheld from her employees but never paid the government. She admitted to failing to turn over $752,000 in taxes.
Corbett also admitted to taking funds meant for the care of foster children that were given to her by private charities and local governments and depositing them into her own personal bank account. With these funds, she made payments to her personal credit cards, her personal retail business, and for a vacation time share. In all, Corbett agreed in her plea agreement to fraud loss amount that exceeded $550,000.
Corbett has a sentencing hearing scheduled for Jan. 31, 2023. For now, she remains out of custody.
The maximum statutory sentence she can be given for wire fraud is 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. For willful failure to pay employment taxes, Corbett is facing a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
