In wake of financial scandals, NC’s former Second Lady starts an accounting firm.

The ascent of Mark Robinson and Yolanda Hill through North Carolina’s GOP ranks ended almost as rapidly as it began.  The descent was most prominently marked with talk of Internet browser histories, Nude Africa, and — um,*different* — music videos.

One storyline kept popping up its ugly head during the last two years of the Robinson era in Raleigh — the apparent mismanagement of finances. 

As the 2024 gubernatorial race was starting to heat up, we heard about problems with paying property taxes to Guilford County.  Robinson tried to explain it all away — admitting that he’s “not very good” when it comes to math and noting how his wife, Yolanda Hill, handles all of the family’s finances.   We also heard about the stiffing of a landlord and being on the losing end of a lawsuit filed by – of all people – The Girl Scouts. 

So, the case was made that Yolanda Hill was indeed the financial whiz in the family.  But then came the details on Balanced Nutrition (BN).

Balanced Nutrition was founded by Hill as a contractor with the NC Department of Health & Human Services (NC DHHS).  Its purpose was to reimburse daycare centers that fed lunches to qualifying attendees.  The cash came from the US Department of Agriculture via NC DHHS.  Our multi-year investigative reporting that delved into BN’s records uncovered a number of potential issues:

• The company’s applying for – and receiving — on two occasions COVID relief (aka Paycheck Protection) checks from the feds it did not appear to qualify for.
• An apparent failure to document payment of some payroll taxes
• Failing to ID certain employees as family members and obtain regulatory approval to employ them, as required by federal and state regulations; (Boxes were checked on certain BN filings to government authorities stating that NO family members were employed at BN)
• Financial reporting to federal authorities that differed significantly from what was being reported to state authorities
• Failure to fully comply with federal reporting requirements on finances (IRS Form 990) for at least two years

Then came the 2024 financial review.  NC DHHS examined a small sample of BN clients for the first quarter of 2024. Regulators determined that Hill and her company had acquired more than $101,000 in tax dollars they were not entitled to be paid.  Yolanda and team lawyered up to fight, but ended up being unsuccessful.  The deadline to appeal the six figure repayment demand has passed, but it appears the repayment has not been made.  

NC DHHS sources tell us the next options can include assessing Balanced Nutrition with interest on the demanded monetary amount and even suing the firm’s responsible parties (which include Yolanda).

Now, take all of this into account as you hear the news that Yolanda Hill has founded a brand new accounting firm. Her new company, Accounting Allies (AA), is promoting itself as a vehicle for small business clients in managing finances,  bookkeeping, payroll, and staying organized for tax purposes.

I was suspicious of this news at first — given that AA was founded on April Fool’s Day.