KC daycare owner sentenced for $700,000 fraud scheme

KANSAS CITY – A Kansas City day care owner was convicted this week in federal court for her role in a conspiracy that resulted in a $653,329 tax loss for the federal government, as well as fraudulently collecting nearly $120,000 $ in government benefits to which she was not entitled. , according to the United States Attorney.

Patricia L. Johnson-Rushing, 55, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to two years and three months in federal prison without the possibility of parole. The court also ordered Johnson-Rushing to pay $772,861 in restitution and forfeit the government $95,704.

On September 7, 2023, Johnson-Rushing pleaded guilty to one count of theft of public money, one count of welfare fraud, and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. United.

Johnson-Rushing admitted that she fraudulently received $83,394 in government funding for her daycare, Granny's Pray & Play, located at 3714 E. 27th Street in Kansas City, Missouri, and that she illegally received vouchers from food. Johnson-Rushing also admitted that she participated in a conspiracy to obstruct the collection of federal employment taxes by failing to remit to the government $154,186 in federal income tax and FICA contributions collected on the checks payroll for Granny's Pray & Play employees. This was part of a total tax loss to the government, including the employer's share of payroll taxes, of $653,329.