A Durham businessman was sentenced Monday, January 14, 2019, in Wake County Superior Court on felony tax charges filed by the North Carolina Department of Revenue.
Preston Ray Swift, 55, of 5015 Wake Forest Highway, Durham pled guilty to eight counts of Embezzlement of State Property, eight counts of Embezzlement of Durham County Property, two counts of Attempt to Evade or Defeat Tax, and five counts of Willful Failure to File North Carolina Individual Income Tax Returns..
Superior Court Judge Carl Fox sentenced Swift to a 28-month minimum, 52-month maximum prison term.
Information presented in court showed that Swift, owner of Swift Auto and Truck Repair, LLC, located in Durham, aided and abetted the corporation to embezzle, misapply and convert to its own use $66,021.32 in North Carolina and Durham County Sales Tax from October 17, 2011 through January 22, 2018. Swift also attempted to evade or defeat North Carolina Sales Tax by instructing an employee to create a second set of books for Swift Auto and Truck Repair, LLC, and then later destroy the records. In addition, Swift also failed to file North Carolina Individual Income Tax Returns for the tax years 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016.
The charges against Swift resulted from an investigation by special agents with the Department’s Criminal Investigations Section in Raleigh, and was prosecuted by the Special Prosecutions attorneys in the office of the Attorney General.