IRS, FBI agents remove records from Powell business

May 15--A Powell company said Thursday that it is cooperating with authorities, after federal agents removed several boxes of records from its office near Clinton Highway.

On Thursday morning, agents from the IRS Criminal Investigation Division as well as the FBI were on hand at HR Comp Employee Leasing, at 7317 Clinton Highway.

Susanne Lee, a special IRS agent, spoke briefly to reporters but declined to give details about the investigation.

In a written statement issued by attorney John Owings, the company said it was proceeding with business as usual.

"We were shocked and surprised by what happened today," the statement said. "HR Comp is operating appropriately in compliance with (the) law."

The president and CEO of HR Comp is Andrea Rudd, who -- along with her then-husband, Chris Ball -- drew media attention in 2012 when they stood with Gov. Bill Haslam at the ceremonial signing of legislation that set up a procedure for the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance to regulate the professional employer organization industry.

At the time of the ceremonial signing, HR Comp Employee Leasing had been fined $10,000 for operating without a state license, which it has since obtained.

After the ceremonial signing, email messages surfaced revealing that the Balls had hired Tom Ingram, Gov. Bill Haslam's personal political consultant, to help their companies deal with state government.

Ingram said Thursday that his company still provides strategic consulting for HR Comp and does lobbying for the company.

In an interview last year, Andrea Ball told the News Sentinel that she had pushed for the legislation that Haslam signed because she had become aware of improprieties at another Knoxville professional employer organization business, Service Provider Group.

That firm was run by Joe Usher, for whom Ball had once worked. SPG's corporate offices were raided by IRS and FBI agents in February 2013, and have since closed.

In December 2011, Ball filed for divorce in Fourth Circuit Court. In July, Chris Ball's lawyer filed a motion asking Judge Bill Swann to appoint a receiver for all the separate companies until the divorce action was final, a move that Andrea Ball opposed.

"Chris owns no part of HR Comp Employee Leasing," Andrea Ball said in the interview last year. "The financials are strong and show the company will not go into receivership."

Andrea Ball has since remarried and is now Andrea Rudd.

According to pleadings filed in November 2012 on behalf of Andrea Ball, HR Comp Employee Leasing was "struggling financially" because of efforts to pay off $3.5 million in tax liens filed on HR Comp LLC, which is "technically owned" by Chris Ball but with liability falling to both as a couple.

___

(c)2014 the Knoxville News-Sentinel (Knoxville, Tenn.)

Visit the Knoxville News-Sentinel (Knoxville, Tenn.) at www.knoxnews.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services