Imperial day care operator charged by grand jury with tax fraud

A federal grand jury has accused an Imperial day care operator of pocketing payroll taxes from employees and failing to report the money rather than turning it over to the Internal Revenue Service.

Rebecca Lynn Boyce, 42, of Imperial is facing a slew of tax fraud charges in an indictment that says Boyce failed to pass on employee-paid taxes to the federal government from 2015 to 2018, Acting U.S. Attorney Stephen R. Kaufman said Thursday.

Boyce, who operated Cutie Patootie Daycare, is the only defendant named in the 16-count indictment brought by the grand jury.

Boyce could not be reached for comment late Thursday. A spokesperson at the day care could not be reached after business hours.

According to the indictment, Boyce withheld payroll taxes from employees of Cutie Patootie but did give the money to the IRS. She also failed to account for the withholdings in quarterly filings, prosecutors said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney David Lew is prosecuting the case with help from IRS criminal investigators.