Cape Coral, FL– A Florida man and woman admitted to conspiring to defraud the U.S. government by failing to pay employment taxes, according to an announcement made yesterday. William Skaggs Jr., owner of Nastar Roofing, a Fort Myers-based roofing company, and Billie Adkison, the company’s office administrator, pleaded guilty to a decade-long scheme to evade employment taxes. Their strategy involved withdrawing over $21 million from Nastar’s accounts to pay employees in cash, avoiding legally required withholdings for Social Security, Medicare, and federal income taxes.
Between 2013 and 2023, Nastar Roofing issued nominal paychecks via a payroll provider but did not disclose the cash payments to the provider. As a result, the payroll company submitted false employment tax returns to the IRS. When Nastar filed its own tax returns during periods without a payroll provider, the company also failed to report the cash wages. Both Skaggs and Adkison knowingly signed false tax returns to conceal the fraud. Their actions resulted in a tax loss of nearly $2.5 million to the IRS.
Skaggs and Adkison now face serious penalties, including a maximum of five years in prison, supervised release, restitution payments, and monetary fines. A federal judge will determine their sentencing based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other legal factors.
The case was investigated by the IRS Criminal Investigation division. It is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Kevin Schneider of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Leeman for the Middle District of Florida.
