Thursday, November 2, 2017

Monroe Businessman Pleads Guilty in State Tax Case

Raleigh, NC
Nov 2, 2017

A Monroe businessman pleaded guilty Wednesday in Wake County Superior Court to felony tax charges filed by the North Carolina Department of Revenue. William Jeffrey Massey, 55, of 410 Robin Drive, Monroe, pleaded guilty on November 1, 2017 to three counts of Embezzlement of State Property.

 

Wake County Superior Court Judge Carl Fox sentenced Massey to a 16-month minimum, 29-month maximum prison term. The sentence was suspended and Massey was placed on supervised probation for 60 months.  He was also ordered to be placed on electronic home monitoring for six months, pay remaining restitution of $5,163.18, perform 100 hours of community service work, and pay a $15,000.00 fine.  Massey paid $84,603.17 toward the total restitution amount of $89,766.35 prior to his plea.

Information presented in court showed that Massey, President/CEO of Agape Services, Inc. aided and abetted the corporation to embezzle, misapply, and convert to its own use $89,766.35 in North Carolina Withholding Tax during the period of May 1, 2012 through December 31, 2015.  During this period of time, Massey was the responsible person of the corporation, which was under a duty to collect, hold in trust, and remit North Carolina Withholding Tax to the North Carolina Department of Revenue. 

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