Gladys Knight’s Son
Georgia Department of Revenue official Josh Waites says the son of singer Gladys Knight is accused of stealing tax money from several metro Atlanta chicken and waffles restaurants for his personal use.
Department officials said in a statement that agents executed warrants at the restaurant’s locations and headquarters Tuesday and tried unsuccessfully to arrest Shanga Hankerson.
Josh Waites says Hankerson is accused of stealing more than $650,000 in sales and withholding taxes for personal use. After penalties and interest, officials say the total amounts to more than $1 million.
Director of the Georgia Department of Revenue’s Office of Special Investigations, Josh Waites, says state officials are working with Hankerson’s attorney “to have the businesses up and running again as soon as possible.”
Officials say Gladys Knight isn’t suspected of any criminal activity.
https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/gladys-knight-son-accused-stealing-restaurants-7415573/
She tried to Steal $94 Million Dollars
A woman accused of filing a phony state tax return for $94 million was arrested when she attempted to claim her check at a Cobb County bank, Channel 2 Action News reported.
Brigitte Jackson was arrested and charged with attempted theft by taking and conspiracy to defraud the state, according to an investigator with the Georgia Department of Revenue.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s $94 or $94 million,” Special Investigations Chief Josh Waites told Channel 2. “We’re going to go after you and hold you accountable.”
Waites said investigators asked Jackson to come to a grocery store bank counter to pick up her $94 million refund check, and when she did, she was arrested.
Jackson’s cousin, Darrius White, also allegedly reported $99 million in income, tried to claim a large refund and has also been charged, Waites said. White was not in custody Friday evening.
“They kept calling to check on their refund,” Waites said.
Those phone calls were recorded, and Waites said that helped investigators bring criminal charges.
https://www.ajc.com/news/woman-accused-filing-fake-million-tax-return/w73bgBHlgMmHrPoRhDPbIN/#
Montana supercars cost the State Millions
COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Wealthy Georgians with garages filled with exotic cars are accused of cheating local taxpayers.
Channel 2’s Mark Winne investigated for months, and so did the Georgia Department of Revenue Special Investigations Unit, leading up to local raids that also involved the Federal Aviation Administration, Sandy Springs Police Department and Cobb County Police Department.
Authorities executed search warrants for an investigation focused on two men accused of registering
numerous exotic cars in Montana because the state does not charge sales tax or ad valorem tax on cars, unlike Georgia and most other states. However, the owners of the cars live in Georgia. Winne learned the car owners have avoided millions in taxes.
“It’s costing the state of Georgia millions of dollars a year,” Chief Josh Waites, of the Department of Revenue, said.
A 2004 Ferrari Challenge Stradale would cost about $10,290 to register in Georgia if you were to buy it today. A Montana official estimates the same car would cost $213.95 to register in Montana.
The investigation focuses on Ryan Hardwick and Dustin Farthing, who have not been charged, according to Waites.
Hardwick said he had no intention of breaking any law in Georgia and checked with lawyers both in Georgia and Montana. He said exotic cars and RV owners across the country do it.
The story is much bigger than one case. Waites said countless other wealthy Georgians are doing the same thing.
“It’s really not fair to every other taxpayer,” Waites said.
Our Channel 2 Action News crew spotted exotic cars carrying Montana tags across metro Atlanta: in Dunwoody, in Sandy Springs at car shows, outside a mall restaurant and driving down Peachtree Street.
Council Woman – Guilty
EAST POINT, Ga. — A former Hapeville city councilwoman and tax preparer has pleaded guilty in a fraud case that ties back to a 2016 Channel 2 Action News and an Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation.
Ruth Barr, 64, pleaded guilty to three felony charges tied to fraudulent tax preparation in Fulton County.
The case was prosecuted by the state Attorney General’s office, and investigated by the Department of Revenue.
“It was long time coming but it was worth it,” said Josh Waites, the director of special investigations for the Georgia Department of Revenue.
Barr is already serving five years on a 20-year sentence for an unrelated theft conviction in Gwinnett County.
She was convicted of stealing $109,000 from a dying relative, and spending the money in 30 days.
With this week’s guilty plea, a decade of probation and a ban on tax preparation will be added to her theft conviction sentence.
Channel 2 Action News and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution began investigating Barr in 2016, as dozens of her clients complained of receiving state penalties for returns filed by Barr.
At the time, Barr served as a Hapeville city council member, and operated a tax prep business in the city.
The state estimated a loss of almost $6 million loss due to fraudulent returns filed by Barr since 2013. While the exact number of victims has been kept confidential by the state, on Thursday the DOR confirmed $3.5 million in fraudulent returns that Barr’s clients were set to receive.
Waites said the state could have prosecuted Barr on hundreds of felonies tied to those cases, but there would have been a long road ahead.
“It literally would have been parading hundreds of taxpayers into court and having them go through the process, and it would have been a ‘he said, she said,’” said Waites.
So they narrowed the charges down to what they saw in an undercover video from February 2017.
Barr had not yet been convicted in the theft case. She was operating a tax prep business with her daughter out of a new location on Willingham Drive in East Point. It was months after the state raided her previous business, and her solicitation of former clients angered them.
“Are you kidding?” Marie Ledford told Channel 2 investigative reporter Nicole Carr in 2017. “I thought, here’s a tax person that’s going through criminal investigation who has now caused me to go through an audit and now is sending me a card, regarding a new business.”
In the video, Barr complains about the media and tells the undercover clients the state has zero evidence against her.
“He (investigator) knew he wasn’t going to get an indictment,” Barr tells the clients in the video obtained by Channel 2 Action News.
Investigators say she goes on to explain how she keeps clients from owing the state, and filed about $9,000 in fraudulent federal and state returns for the couple.
“And it was pretty open and shut on our end,” Waites said, describing the pursuit of an indictment.
HELPING TAXPAYERS
A neighboring business in East Point told Carr that Barr’s clients still come around the building looking for her — and their personal information.
Barr’s clients have received notices from the Department of Revenue regarding opportunities to work on a reasonable debt management plan with the state.
“We’re actually working with them individually to get the correct returns filed for each year,” said Waites. “And if there’s a bill, money that’s owed, we’re working with them to set up payment plans to get that money back.”
The DOR encourages victims to contact them, even if they haven’t received those notices.
“It’s important for taxpayers to make sure they’ve done their homework on a professional they can trust and give their confidential information to,” said Revenue Commissioner Lynne Riley.
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