North Carolina Man Charged with Tax Fraud and Other Crimes

A federal grand jury sitting in Greensboro, North Carolina, returned a superseding indictment against a Thomasville, North Carolina, man charging him with one count of evading the payment of income taxes, three counts of filing false tax returns, one count of making false statements on aircraft maintenance records, one count of aggravated identity theft and four counts of serving as an airman without an airman’s certificate, Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Ripley Rand for the Middle District of North Carolina announced today. 

According to the superseding indictment, from 2011 through 2014, Paul Douglas Tharp aka Doug Tharp, attempted to evade payment of income taxes he owed for the tax years 2004 through 2007 by filing false documents, including false tax returns, with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).  The superseding indictment also alleges that Tharp forged the signature of a licensed mechanic on aircraft maintenance records and served as an airman without the required certification.   

If convicted, Tharp faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison for the tax evasion charge, three years in prison for each count of filing a false tax return, three years in prison for each count of serving as an airman without an airman’s certificate, five years in prison for making false statements and a two year mandatory prison sentence for aggravated identity theft.  He also faces substantial monetary penalties, supervised release and restitution.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo and U.S. Attorney Rand commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Anand Ramaswamy and Trial Attorney Nathan Brooks of the Tax Division, who are prosecuting this case.

An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed.  The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.