BUTLER CO., Pa. – A married couple from Butler County have been sentenced in federal court on fraud and tax charges, Acting United States Attorney Stephen R, Kaufman announced on Thursday.
Stephanie J. Roskovski, 51, of Butler, PA, pleaded guilty in May 2020 to one count of mail fraud and one count of filing a false income tax return and was sentenced to 51 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Scott A. Roskovski, 52, also of Butler, PA, pleaded guilty previously to one count of filing a false income tax return and one count of submitting a false loan application to a bank. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison and two years of supervised release. Both defendants were sentenced by United States District Court Judge William S. Stickman IV. The court will issue an order of restitution within 90 days.
“Stephanie Roskovski took advantage of her trusted position as the second in command at Butler Health System (d/b/a Butler Memorial Hospital) to steal over $1.3 million from the Hospital, a non-profit organization,” Acting U.S. Attorney Kaufman said. “She and her husband then used the embezzled money to fund an extravagant lifestyle. They also committed fraud upon a financial institution and filed false tax returns. Today is the day that justice came to the Roskovskis for their criminal actions.”
“The Postal Inspection Service will continue to ensure that criminals are held accountable for their greed. These sentences are an example of the commitment of law enforcement working together to bring Scott and Stephanie Roskovski to justice for committing mail fraud and other crimes.” stated Inspector-in-Charge Lesley Allison.
“These cases were all about greed,” said Joleen Simpson, Acting Special Agent in Charge of IRS-Criminal Investigation. “That greed caused the Roskovskis to commit tax fraud and other crimes, which ultimately resulted in the penalties they received today. These sentencings should be a deterrent to other would-be criminals, knowing that Special Agents from IRS-CI and our law enforcement partners are fully committed to bringing offenders like this to justice.”
“The Roskovskis knew what they were doing was wrong,” said FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Mike Nordwall. “They embezzled money to line their own pockets and live a lavish lifestyle. They are now convicted felons and will serve time for their crimes. Hopefully today’s sentencing will bring some closure to the community and send the message that the FBI takes our responsibility to stop those who set out to commit fraud and use it for their own personal gain very seriously. It simply won’t be tolerated.”
According to information provided to the court, from April 2011 through December 2017, Stephanie Roskovski, while serving as the Chief Operating Officer for Butler Health System (BHS), embezzled in excess of $1.3 million from her employer. She used her corporate credit card to make personal purchases that she disguised as business expenses, submitted falsified reimbursement requests claiming purchases she made on a personal credit card were for business, and obtained hundreds of merchant gift cards worth more than $350,000, falsely claiming they were for distribution to “focus groups” or physicians, and which she and her husband used for purely personal purposes.
During that time, Stephanie’s husband, Scott Roskovski, was employed as a detective with the Butler County District Attorney’s Office. Ironically, he investigated financial crimes including theft and fraud. The defendants spent most of the stolen funds on lavish vacations, renovations to their home, and the purchase and operation of a motocross track, “Switchback MX LLC”, located in Butler County. The defendants failed to report the fraud proceeds as income on their annual income tax returns jointly filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Additionally, after the couple lost their respective jobs, the defendants submitted a materially false loan application to S&T Bank to refinance the Switchback business and to purchase a bulldozer. S&T Bank extended two loans, the first for $1,128,227, and the second for $55,384, based upon the false information.
The court was advised that the total loss resulting from the mail fraud scheme perpetrated against BHS is approximately $1,331,884, and the total tax loss to the IRS is approximately $397,342.
Assistant United States Attorney Carolyn J. Bloch prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation leading to the prosecution of Scott and Stephanie Roskovski.
