A Mecklenburg County businessman was arrested today on felony tax charges filed by the North Carolina Department of Revenue. Mark F. Ethridge, 62, of Mint Hill, NC, was charged with three counts of Embezzlement of State Property.
Arrest warrants allege that Ethridge, owner of Stooges Pub and Grub, LLC, aided and abetted the business to embezzle, misapply, and convert to its own use approximately $193,212.10 in North Carolina Sales Taxes (State & Mecklenburg County) from Feb. 1, 2015 through Dec. 31, 2019. During this time, Ethridge was the responsible person of Stooges Pub and Grub, LLC and was under a duty to collect, hold in trust, and remit North Carolina and Mecklenburg County Sales Tax to the North Carolina Department of Revenue.
Ethridge appeared before a Wake County magistrate and was placed under a $100,000 bond. A first appearance is scheduled for Feb. 2, 2022, in Wake County District Court in Raleigh.
The charges against Ethridge resulted from an investigation by special agents with the Department’s Criminal Investigations Division in Raleigh.