(File photograph.)
The 65-year-old owner of a payroll firm, previously accused of stealing from businesses in Haverhill and Danvers, was charged in federal court and agreed to plead guilty to defrauding clients by diverting money set aside by her clients for payroll taxes.
Patricia Lindau, of Newburg, Maine, who operated Northeast Abacus of Newburyport until recently, was charged and has agreed to plead guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of tax evasion. According to the plea agreement filed Monday, the government will recommend a sentence of incarceration at the low end of the guidelines sentencing range, one year of supervised release and restitution of $1,393,430. A plea hearing has not yet been scheduled.