Middle Georgia daycare CEO faces $1 million fine, 30 years in prison after fraud plea

The CEO of a daycare business based in Warner Robins pleaded guilty earlier this month to financial fraud after an investigation by the FBI and IRS.

Ilene Farley, 62, of Stone Mountain, was the CEO of Tender Years Learning Corporation, a daycare business that operated 17 locations across the state, including seven in Macon and Warner Robins. Farley was responsible as president and CEO for handling the business’s financial affairs.

According to a release from the justice department, Farley now faces a maximum prison sentence of 30 years and a $1 million fine.

Starting in 2018, Farley engaged in a “check-kiting” scheme, a method of check fraud utilizing the time between presenting a check and the receipt of funds “to make use of non-existent funds in a checking or other bank account” according to the DOJ. She sent more than $75 million in unfunded amounts to banks throughout the scheme.

One of the banks she used, Bank of America, discovered the fraud in July 2019 and shut down her accounts, according to U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesperson Melissa Hodges. Bank of America lost more than $500,000.

“Ilene Farley believed she had found a shortcut to put money in her pocket, and now she will pay for her criminal behavior,” FBI Atlanta agent Charge Keri Farley said in the release.

The DOJ said Farley also failed to pay the IRS “trust fund taxes,” which include social security, medicare and federal income taxes, for the business’s employees; more than $844,000 that was withheld from her employees’ paychecks.

“Employers have a lawful duty and responsibility to withhold income taxes from their employees’ payroll check; failure to do so negatively impacts the U.S. Government and the employees,” IRS agent James E. Dorsey said.

Farley’s sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 1.

Mary Helene Hall is a journalism and women’s and gender studies student at Mercer University who is working with the Telegraph this semester.