RALEIGH – Two Wilmington women charged by the North Carolina Department of Revenue with obtaining property by false pretenses were sentenced on Thursday May 22, 2003 in Wake County District Court.

Cynthia Sanders Simpson, 44, of 400 Evans St., and Judy Mae Parker, 43 of 433 Henry St. – two of six area residents charged in the case – each entered guilty pleas to two felony counts of obtaining property by false pretenses. The state's evidence showed that Simpson and Parker knowingly filed fraudulent North Carolina individual income tax returns using fictitious wage and tax statements. The wage and tax statements falsely represented that they were employed by local businesses and had North Carolina income taxes withheld from their wages. Based on the fraudulent information presented, the Department of Revenue issued $1,150 in income tax refunds to Simpson and $538 in income tax refunds to Parker.

Wake County District Court Judge Joyce A. Hamilton sentenced Simpson to a 10-month minimum, 12-month maximum prison term. The sentence was suspended and Simpson was placed on supervised probation for 36 months. As a special condition of probation, Simpson was placed on intensive probation for six months. Simpson also must pay a $100 criminal fine and $1,150 in restitution to the Department of Revenue. She was ordered to timely and lawfully file all state tax returns during her probation.

Hamilton sentenced Parker to a five-month minimum, six-month maximum prison term. The sentence was suspended and Parker was placed on supervised probation for 24 months. Parker must pay a $100 criminal fine and $538 in restitution to the Department of Revenue. She also was ordered to timely and lawfully file all state tax returns during her probation.

The charges against Simpson and Parker resulted from an investigation by a special agent in the Department of Revenue's Criminal Investigations Division. They were arrested along with four others on March 6, 2003 and those cases are pending. The investigation into the filing of fraudulent North Carolina income tax returns using fictitious W-2 forms continues in the Wilmington area and additional arrests are possible.

Last modified on: 10/31/07 03:43:48 PM.