Onslow County Businesswoman Charged in State Tax Case

RALEIGH – A Onslow County businesswoman was arrested Monday on felony and misdemeanor tax charges filed by the North Carolina Department of Revenue.

Evelyn V. Edwards, 62, of 202 Blake Court, Jacksonville, was charged on January 23, 2017 with five counts of Embezzlement of State Property, five counts of Embezzlement of County Property, and six counts of Willful Failure to File North Carolina Individual Income Tax Returns.

Arrest warrants allege that Evelyn Edwards, owner of Waffle Shoppe located in Jacksonville, embezzled, misapplied, and converted to her own use $68,827.15 in North Carolina and Onslow County Sales Tax from April 1, 2012 through March 31, 2016. During this period of time, Edwards was the owner and responsible person of Waffle Shoppe, which was under a duty to collect, hold in trust, and remit North Carolina State Taxes to the North Carolina Department of Revenue. Additional warrants allege that Edwards knowingly and willfully failed to file North Carolina Individual Income Tax Returns for the tax years 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015.

Edwards appeared before an Onslow County magistrate and was placed under a $40,000 bond. A first appearance was scheduled for January 27, 2017 in Wake County District Court in Raleigh.

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