Former executive with Burlington County Coat Factory gets house arrest for evading taxes
A former vice president of Burlington Coat Factory in charge of hiring executive employees must spend the next six months under house arrest for evading federal taxes on $466,290 of income.
A former vice president of Burlington Coat Factory in charge of hiring executive employees must spend the next six months under house arrest for evading federal taxes on $466,290 of income.
Barbara Ames, 54, of Mount Laurel, appeared Tuesday in Camden before U.S. District Judge Joseph Rodriguez, who also ordered her to serve three years of probation and pay $145,755 in taxes, plus fines and interest.
Under a plea agreement made last October, Ames admitted that she failed to report the income between 2008 and 2012 for head-hunting services.
Tuesday, Ames apologized to the judge. She told Rodriguez that the experience had made her a better businesswoman and that she had since started a company offering home health services, employing about 30 workers. After the hearing she left the courtroom and declined further comment.
Officials from Burlington Coat Factory did not return calls for comment.
Ames' Mount Holly attorney, John Poindexter III, said in court that Ames had earned the $466,290 legitimately.
Ames worked in talent acquisition for Burlington Coat Factory. She was responsible for recruiting and hiring positions including store management, corporate, and field management.
She also had sole authority to approve human resources vendor payments for the company, and worked with head-hunters to find qualified workers, according to a federal information filed in 2015.
In 2008, according to the court document, Ames created L. Castillo LLC using a Bordentown post office box, and her mother's name and Social Security number. Ames then used the company for head-hunting services, approving 46 checks totaling $466,290 from 2008 through 2012.
Investigators alleged that Castillo was a "shell" company used to divert the money for Ames' personal use, according to a news release by the U.S. Attorney's Office last year.
The Burlington County Prosecutor's Office investigated the case and turned the files over to federal authorities who were pursuing prosecution, said Joel Bewley, a spokesman for that office.
At Tuesday's hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason M. Richardson requested a 12- to 18-month sentence. Ames could have faced up to five years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines.
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