(Wilmington, DE) – Director of Revenue, Patrick T. Carter, announced today that a Milford woman entered a guilty plea in Kent County Superior Court to charges of tax fraud, theft and perjury.
Georgeina B. Ranshaw, 46, pleaded guilty to three felony counts of theft, one felony count of perjury, and one misdemeanor count of willfully failing to file a State of Delaware personal income tax return. She originally was indicted on multiple counts including theft, perjury and failing to file state income tax returns.
As a result of the plea, Ranshaw was ordered not to be involved at all in the home health care business nor involved at all in the care or guardianship of the elderly. Ranshaw awaits sentencing on October 27, 2009 following a pre-sentence investigation, which will also determine the amount of restitution due the victims.
Ranshaw operated Nurses on the Go, which has since gone out of business, and which provided personal care services to elderly and disabled clients in their homes. In addition, Ranshaw operated a cleaning business under the name Littleman’s Cleaning Service based in Milford, Delaware. Despite generating significant revenue from these businesses, Ranshaw failed to file a state income tax return.
Furthermore, investigators say that Ranshaw signed a contract with an insurance association misrepresenting herself as a registered nurse, and practiced nursing in the State of Delaware from October 2001 through December 2008 without a valid license. During this period of time, Ranshaw worked as a caretaker to numerous residents and had access to their finances, and on several occasions she abused this authority by using the victims’ funds for her own purposes.
In addition, as part of her plea to the perjury charge, Ranshaw admitted that she attempted to conceal her income from the Division of Revenue by using her grandson’s social security number, under penalties of perjury, on a business license application for Littleman’s Cleaning Service. In doing so, Ranshaw failed to disclose her true ownership in the cleaning business.
The case against Ranshaw resulted from an investigation conducted by the Delaware Attorney General’s Office and the Delaware Division of Revenue’s Criminal Investigation Unit.
