NEWS RELEASE

SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE

Public Affairs Office

Contact: Danny Brazell

Phone: (803) 898-5464

Email: brazeld@sctax.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 20, 2005

Four Mauldin Warehouse Employees Charged with Tax Evasion

South Carolina Department of Revenue investigators and Greenville County Sheriff's Department deputies today arrested four co-workers of a Mauldin warehousing company on charges of state tax evasion.

Those charged, all employees of C+S Wholesale Services, Inc., were Thomas Gene Robinson, 28, of Clinton, two counts of state income tax evasion; Michael A. Sanders, 32, of Greenville, six counts of income tax evasion; Clarence N. Evans, 38, of Greenville, three counts of income tax evasion and Willie J. Airline, 54, also from Greenville, five counts of income tax evasion. Sanders, Evans and Airline are being held at the Greenville County Detention Center while Robinson was taken to the Laurens County Detention Center. All are being held pending a bond hearing.

Each of the men is accused of illegally claiming an exempt tax status to

avoid having taxes withheld from their wages by their employer, and then willfully failing to file their state income tax returns and report their taxable income. They are facing up to five years in prison and fines of up to $10,000 on each tax evasion charge if convicted. The charges cover tax years from 1998 – 2003.

The revenue department's investigation is ongoing and additional arrests could be pending.

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