WASHINGTON - A former Forsyth County Commissioner was arrested today on charges of filing false tax returns and failing to file a federal tax return, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Matthew G.T. Martin of the Middle District of North Carolina.
On Sept. 30, 2019, a federal grand jury in Greensboro, North Carolina, returned an indictment charging Witherspoon with three counts of filing a false tax return and one count of failing to file a federal tax return. The indictment was unsealed following Witherspoon’s arrest.
According to the indictment and other court documents, Everette Witherspoon Jr., of Forsyth County, was a managing member of “Chris’s Rehablative [sic] Services" (CRS), a mental health services provider, in Greensboro, North Carolina. Witherspoon also allegedly co-owned and operated two tax return preparation businesses - Quick Taxes LLC, in Greensboro, and Fast Tax Inc., in Winston-Salem. For the 2013 through 2015 tax years, Witherspoon allegedly filed false personal tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by not reporting his county commissioner wages on those returns, and falsely underreporting his gross receipts for CRS as well as his total income. The indictment also charges that despite having gross income in excess of the filing requirements set by federal law, Witherspoon failed to file a personal income tax return with the IRS for 2012.
If convicted, Witherspoon faces a statutory maximum sentence of three years for each count of filing a false tax return and one year in prison for the remaining charged count. He also faces a period of supervised release and monetary penalties.
An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed. A defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman and U.S. Attorney Martin commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Trial Attorney Lauren Castaldi of the Tax Division and Criminal Division Chief Clifton T. Barrett of the Middle District of North Carolina, who are prosecuting the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
