A Cumberland County businesswoman was sentenced Monday, July 1, 2019 in Wake County Superior Court on felony tax charges filed by the North Carolina Department of Revenue.
Shuvon Rena Mitchell, 40, of 2633 Plum Ridge Road, Fayetteville, North Carolina, pled guilty to six counts of Embezzlement of State Property.
Superior Court Judge Paul Ridgeway sentenced Mitchell to two consecutive prison terms of 19-months minimum, 32-months maximum. The first sentence will be served in the custody of NC Division of Adult Corrections, and the second term is suspended for a period of 60 months in which time Mitchell will be required to pay the outstanding restitution. Mitchell was taken into custody immediately following her sentencing. Mitchell paid $10,000.00 toward the total restitution amount of $102,675.00 at the time of her sentencing.
Information presented in court showed that Mitchell, a corporate officer of S & K Home Care, Inc., aided and abetted the corporation to embezzle, misapply and convert to its own use $102,675.00 in North Carolina Withholding Tax during the period January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2017. According to the prosecutor, business records showed that personal expenses including vacations to Myrtle Beach, Las Vegas, Puerto Rico, and Disney World along with entertainment costs for concerts, comedy shows, and races were paid by the corporation. Mitchell held the position of President, and was the responsible person of S & K Home Care, Inc., which was under a duty to collect, hold in trust, and remit North Carolina Withholding Tax to the North Carolina Department of Revenue.
S & K Home Care, Inc. has operated as a home health care business in Fayetteville since approximately 2011, with income derived primarily from Medicaid claims. Based on information presented in court, Mitchell was still operating a home health care business under the name Changing Lives, also located in Fayetteville.
The charges against Mitchell 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.