REDFORD (WWJ)— A Redford woman was sentenced to up to 15 years in prison for allegedly committing nearly $200,000 worth of tax fraud.
Kendra Lewis, 42, was sentenced Friday to three to 15 years in jail for one count of Embezzlement by An Agent of $50,000 to $100,000 and two counts Making/Permitting a False Tax Return, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced.
Nessel’s office said Lewis embezzled approximately $176,650 in 2020 and 2021 while she worked as the office manager of Big Ike’s Roofing Company in Whitmore Lake. The owner discovered the embezzlement after hiring a new office manager.
Lewis also wrote checks to herself and recorded them in the business checkbook ledger as being payable to business vendors for much less money, according to Nessel’s office.
In July, Lewis pled no contest to the charges and agreed to a restitution order worth nearly $197,500. She also said she would forfeit about $48,000 in cash that was seized from her and her husband’s home during a search. About $170,000 of that money is owed to the victim’s estate and the rest is slated to go to the Michigan Department of Treasury for unpaid taxes.
“The defendant in this case will be required to repay as restitution the money she stole from her employer, and to compensate the State for unpaid taxes,” Nessel said in the press release. “Embezzlement from our small businesses hurts both the business and the consumers in that community.”