Worth home health operator charged with bilking $200K in taxes

The operator of a southwest suburban home health-care business is accused of bilking the state out of more than $200,000 in taxes over three years.

Reginaldo Sulit, 48, was charged this week with theft of government funds and income-tax fraud, according to the Illinois attorney general’s office.

He and his mother, Dr. Dalisay Sulit, started Alliance Home Healthcare in 1994 in Worth, growing to have more than 100 nurses and physical therapists who see patients in Cook, DuPage, Kankakee and Will counties, prosecutors said.

They said that, while serving as the business’ chief operator and shareholder, Reginaldo Sulit withheld income taxes from employee salaries but never turned the money over to the state, netting him $203,900 between June 2013 and September 2016.

“This man is not a legitimate businessman but a thief,” Attorney Gen. Lisa Madigan said. “These charges will hold him accountable for stealing from his employees and defrauding the state.”

The mother-son duo previously were sued by the U.S. Dept. of Labor for pilfering a profit-sharing fund designated for their employees, and were ordered to pay them back $1.6 million. Reginaldo Sulit is facing a federal indictment in that case accusing him of cashing checks from an employee retirement fund.