Cabarrus County Business Owner Charged with State Tax Offenses

RALEIGH – A Cabarrus County business owner was arrested Wednesday on felony tax charges filed by the North Carolina Department of Revenue.

Barbara B. Butler, 61, of 70 Pitts School Road NW, Concord, North Carolina, was charged on April 23, 2014 with two counts of Embezzlement of State Property, and one count of Embezzlement of County Property.

Arrest warrants allege that Butler, a corporate officer of Butler Specialties, Inc., dba Butlerbuilt Motorsports Equipment, aided and abetted the corporation to embezzle, misapply and convert to its own use $400,859.06 in state and county sales tax during the period December 1, 2003 through January 20, 2014. An additional warrant alleged that Butler aided and abetted the corporation to embezzle, misapply and convert to its own use $261,388.09 in North Carolina Withholding Tax during the period July 4, 2009 through January 1, 2014. During this period of time, Butler held the position of Secretary/Treasurer and was the responsible person of Butlerbuilt Motorsports Equipment, which was under a duty to collect, hold in trust, and remit North Carolina State Taxes to the North Carolina Department of Revenue.

Butler appeared before a Wake County magistrate and was placed under a one million dollar bond. A first appearance was scheduled for April 24, 2014 in Wake County District Court in Raleigh.

The charges against Butler resulted from an investigation by a special agent with the Department’s Criminal Investigations Section in Raleigh.