Charon Ray Failed to Report Income from Online Cosmetic Business
Roanoke, VIRGINIA - A woman who participated in a fraudulent cosmetics sales scheme was sentenced this afternoon on federal tax charges, United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.
Charon Ray, a.k.a. “Charon Crowely," 47, of High Point, North Carolina, was sentenced today to three years’ probation, nine months of which must be spent on home confinement. In addition, Ray was ordered to pay a fine of $40,000. She previously pleaded guilty to one count of filing a false tax return.
According to evidence presented during the guilty plea hearing, Ray operated an online cosmetic sales business out of her residence during the years 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. Ray obtained cosmetics from a disposal company and then repurposed them for sale through electronic sales channels such as eBay. The Internal Revenue Service examined Ray’s financial records for the relevant time period. There is a substantial known tax loss that RAY caused, $455,109, by not reporting $1,625,389 of income received by selling used and returned cosmetic products.
As part of her plea agreement in this case, in 2017 Ray filed amended tax returns for each of tax years 2009 through 2014, included in returns were payment of taxes and other amounts due. The defendant paid $590,019 for the tax periods 2009 through 2014.
The investigation of the case was conducted by the Internal Revenue Service. Assistant United States Attorney Charlene R. Day prosecuted the case for the United States.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
