PITTSBURGH — Testimony of tax evasion and “bogus” business expenses wrapped up three days of federal hearings into a Center Township couple's fraud scheme against the Butler Health System.

Special agent Andrew Zurovcik with the Internal Revenue Service testified Wednesday at a U.S. District Court about his role in a multi-agency investigation of Scott and Stephanie Roskovski. The married couple pleaded guilty May 28, 2020, to various federal charges related to defrauding BHS of up to $1.3 million during Stephanie Roskovski's employment there as chief operating officer. They will be sentenced Thursday.

Since Monday, hearings have been held to determine how much the couple owes in restitution to the health system and government.

Zurovcik explained that the IRS will usually get involved in an investigation through information uncovered by other federal agencies. In this case, U.S. Postal Service Inspector David Gealey, who testified Monday and Tuesday, referred the case to Zurovcik to audit the Roskovskis' tax returns between 2011 and 2017.

Reviewing their tax returns for that period, Zurovcik determined the couple had three methods of defrauding the government. First, they did not report the embezzlement of Butler Health System funds that they gained through false disbursement checks and other false expenses.

Second, Zurovcik testified, Stephanie Roskovski filed for travel reimbursements in her tax returns every year, even though her employer was compensating her.

“There was no reason for her to file this because she was already being reimbursed through her company's credit card, disbursements and other compensation,” Zurovcik said. “It's all bogus, fraudulent expenses.”

Zurovcik said he compared Stephanie Roskovski's reported travel to her employer to what she reported traveling in her tax returns. In one instance, he observed she had traveled to Nashville with her family, but on travel reimbursement requests to her employer she claimed to have driven between Pittsburgh and Butler County for work purposes on that same day.

Finally, the couple repeatedly reported business losses beginning in 2012, even though they did not actually have a business until 2015.

Zurovcik said the Roskovskis reported operating a private investigation business called Private Investigative Solutions between 2012 to 2015. During that time period, Scott Roskovski worked as a county detective for the Butler County District Attorney and his application to be a private detective through the county was rejected.

Zurovcik said he spoke to District Attorney Richard Goldinger, who was Scott Roskovski's boss at the time, and Goldinger told him having a business would be a conflict of interest with Scott's county detective work.

In the Roskovskis' tax returns between 2012 to 2015, they reported that their private investigation business based in their home did not make an income and reported losses every year. But they still applied for tax breaks through business expenses such as traveling, utilities and other items.

In 2013, he said the couple claimed $16,000 in business expenses, even though they reported no income and claimed a total of $38,000 in losses that helped them reduce the amount of money they had to pay in taxes.

“This all seems like unjustified, false returns,” Zurovcik said, citing similar instances of false returns in the ensuing years.

In 2014, the couple made similar loss claims that totaled $40,000. Through these and other schemes, Zurovcik estimated that the couple owed more than $131,850 in 2014 and $111,597 in 2015.

During cross examination, attorney Stephen Stallings noted that Scott Roskovski had registered the name Private Investigative Solutions as a business in 2017, and he said that a new business incurring losses is normal.

Zurovcik agreed that new businesses often lose money for years before they become profitable, “but there were no typical startup business expenses in what (Scott) filed.”

To make his point, Zurovcik said that in one year's tax filing for the business, Scott Roskovski had put scuba certification fees as a business expense.

“I'm not very familiar with Butler County, but why would a Private Investigator business need that?” Zurovcik said.

Then, in 2015, the couple purchased Switchback, a dirt bike/motocross race track. They stopped claiming the investigator business and that year they claimed a loss for Switchback.

Through this all, the couple had a joint checking account with PNC bank where most of their incomes were deposited.

Zurovcik estimated that the couple did not report around $253,000 of income.

In 2016, the couple again reported a loss for their Switchback business.

“Both Stephanie and Scott would know that the gross income they're reporting is less than what they were actually earning,” Zurovcik said. “They really earned a lot more money than they're reporting every year.”

That same year, 2016, Zurovcik said that the couple did not report $96,000 gained.

After Zurovcik's testimony, Judge William Stickman IV ordered both sides to file arguments supporting their positions within two weeks of receiving transcripts of this week's proceedings. Stickman said that after receiving this information he will issue a restitution order within 90 days.

The Roskovskis will be back in court Thursday morning to begin sentencing proceedings.