BLYTHEWOOD, S.C. — A Richland County woman has been arrested and charged with helping a local funeral home evade taxes.
According to the South Carolina Department of Revenue, 39-year-old Bridgette Frederick of Blythewood was arrested on Friday for an incident that happened in 2019.
According to the Department of Revenue, Frederick filed a sales tax return for her husband's funeral home in June of that year which reported no sales for the first quarter of the year.
However, the agency said she handled the funeral home's website, including death announcements and funeral homes. Warrants suggest that she knew that, for those months, the funeral home actually did make sales which amounted to about $26,948. From those, the funeral home owed $2,156 in sales tax, the warrant stated.
For a charge of preparation of a false state sales tax return, Frederick faces up to five years in prison and a possible fine of $500 if convicted. Upon her arrest, she was taken to Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center pending a bond hearing.
Her arrest comes just days after that of the owner of B.L. Frederick Memorial Center, 37-year-old Brandon Lorenzo Frederick of Chester. Better Business Bureau records show Bridgette was listed as an office manager.
The warrant in the owner's arrest claims that, between 2017 and 2019, he made sales of $175,750 and collected $8,035 in state sales tax. However, authorities said he didn't charge sales tax on all items he sold, allowing him to evade roughly $14,000 in sales tax according to warrants.
For three counts of tax evasion, he also faces up to five years in prison but could see a considerably higher fine of $10,000 plus the cost of prosecution for each count if convicted.
