A North Carolina woman from Durham pleaded guilty last Friday to tax fraud announced Sandra J. Hairston, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina.
Santa Maria McKibbins pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return, a violation of Title 26, United States Code, Section 7206(1), after an investigation revealed that she had withheld information from a tax preparer regarding income and personal use of funds related to her business. According to court-filed documents, McKibbins was a licensed dentist and ran a dental practice known as McKibbins Family Dentistry in Durham. A review of McKibbins’ expenditures revealed that her income far exceeded the income reported to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and bank records confirmed annualized personal income that exceeded the income claimed on her IRS forms. From 2013 to 2018, McKibbins withheld information regarding insurance and copayment checks made to her business, which she then diverted to her personal checking account which she used to make payments on multiple cars and her home.
“To attempt to evade taxes by hiding income and filing false returns, is a theft from the American public. It is a felony offense that carries severe consequences,” said Donald “Trey” Eakins, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Charlotte Field Office. “The overarching principle of IRS’s enforcement strategy is simply this: We protect the integrity of the tax system by ensuring everyone pays their fair share of tax.”
Sentencing is scheduled to take place on October 19, 2022, at 9:30 a.m. in Greensboro, North Carolina, courtroom number three, before the Honorable Catherine C. Eagles. At sentencing, McKibbins faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison, a period of supervised release of up to one year, and monetary penalties.
Agents with the Criminal Investigation division of the Internal Revenue Service investigated the case. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tanner Kroeger.