Wife of ex-Mass. GOP indicted for underreporting income on tax returns

SHREWSBURY, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com/AP) – The wife of former Massachusetts Republican Congressman Peter Blute has been charged with underreporting income from her federal tax returns.

Roberta I. Crudale Blute, 55, was indicted on two counts of filing false tax returns for tax years 2007 and 2008.

Blute allegedly omitted from tax returns hundreds of thousands of dollars in income she earned from numerous employers. Specifically, Blute knowingly failed to report income she earned from four companies in 2007 and five companies in 2008, the indictment alleges.

Blute faces up to three years in prison, one year of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine if found guilty.

She pleaded not guilty during a court appearance Thursday in Worcester. A call to her attorney was not immediately returned.

The indictment said on her 2007 returns, Blute failed to report $88,517 from Kindred Healthcare, $75,864 from Principal Healthcare Inc., $11,836 from entities associated with CCS Companies and $21,600 from Case Management Associates, Inc.

The indictment also said that on her 2008 returns, Blute failed to report $84,735 from Kindred Healthcare, $47,689 from Hospital Corporation of America Management Services, $57,300 from Principal Healthcare, $33,500 from Peak Health Consultants, Inc. and $4,384 from CCS.

Peter Blute served two terms before he was defeated by Rep. James McGovern, a Democrat, in 1996. In 2011 he was named deputy chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party.

A call to Peter Blute was not immediately returned.

Cox Media Group