South Carolina Department of Revenue (SCDOR) agents have arrested a Columbia man and charged him with two counts of obtaining property under false pretenses, two counts of delivery of false documents, and two counts of tax evasion.
Steve Sanders Bouknight Jr., 49, of Columbia, filed South Carolina Individual Income Tax returns with fraudulent W-2 forms claiming inflated wages and state withholding, according to arrest warrants. Bouknight told SCDOR agents he submitted a W-2 he knew was fraudulent. According to the warrants, Bouknight filed fraudulent withholding statements with his employer claiming excessive allowances.
He is charged with obtaining property under false pretense for tax years 2014 and 2015, delivery of false documents for tax years 2017 and 2018, and willful attempt to evade or defeat a tax for tax years 2016 and 2019. He is charged with obtaining property under false pretenses for the refunds he received to which he was not entitled.
If convicted, Bouknight faces a maximum sentence of a fine at the discretion of a judge or imprisonment of up to five years for each false-pretenses charge; a fine of up to $5,000 and/or one year in prison for each false-documents charge; and a fine of up to $10,000 and/or five years in prison plus the cost of prosecution for each tax evasion charge.
