HARRISBURG —Attorney General Josh Shapiro today announced criminal charges against three business owners for collecting and then failing to pay more than $133,000 in state taxes.
The charges are against Donna Bittner, the owner of Beech Creek Furst Corner Store, and Brian and Charles McCord, the owners of McCord Brothers Dairy Queen in Blair County. The cases were referred to the Office of Attorney General by the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue’s Bureau of Criminal Tax Investigations.
Donna Bittner was responsible for preparing, filing and paying the sales and employer taxes for Beech Creek Furst Corner Store. Instead of remitting tax payments to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, she used the funds for business operations. Bittner is charged with failing to pay a total of $114,456.81 in sales and employer taxes between June 2012 and March 2017. The total includes $106,565.20 in state sales tax and $7,891.61 in employer withholding tax.
Brian and Charles McCord failed to pay a total of $18,767.96 in sales and employer taxes between June 2015 and December 2016. The total includes $16,215.48 in state sales tax and $2,522.48 in employer withholding tax.
“This is the people’s money, when businesses collect taxes and don’t send them into the Commonwealth, our schools, roads and essential services don’t receive the support they need,” Attorney General Shapiro said. “My office is working so taxpayers and consumers are treated fairly and so that everyone is held to the same standard.”
Bittner is charged with 78 counts of Theft by Failure to Make Required Disposition of Funds, 12 counts of Willfill Failure to Timely File Sales Tax Returns, and 4 counts of Willfill Failure to File Employer Withholding Tax Returns. Brian and Charles McCord are being charged with 19 counts of Willful Failure to Remit Sales Tax, 6 counts of Willful Failure to Pay Over Withheld State Income Tax and one count of Willful Failure to File Employer Withholding Tax Returns.
The complaints were filed today and arraignments are being made for the defendants to turn themselves in.
