FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
18 August 2008

Bluffton businessman charged with tax evasion

The owner of a Bluffton spraying service is in jail today after South Carolina Department of Revenue investigators charged him with tax evasion.

James H. McLain, 51, owner of McLain Spraying Services, a lawn care business, was charged with five counts of state income tax evasion. He is being held at the Beaufort County Detention Center pending a bond hearing.

McLain is accused of failing to file tax returns in 1998, 2001, 2004, 2005 and 2007. The Department estimated his total tax liability at $13,371 for the years he failed to file.

McLain is facing up to 25 years in prison and fines of up to $50,000 if convicted of all the charges.

The Beaufort County Sheriff's Department assisted in McLain's arrest.

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