NC exec reported $25M in business expenses – feds say he spent it on luxury bling

A Fayetteville man accused of trying to dodge millions in income taxes has pleaded guilty to federal charges. Christopher Scott Harrison submitted the guilty plea Tuesday to willfully filing a false tax return with respect to nearly $25 million in unreported income he paid to himself from his company – a crime apparently uncovered by a bankruptcy accountant. Harrison is being represented by Ripley Eagles Rand with Womble Bond Dickinson. "Mr. Harrison has accepted full responsibility for the tax charge in this case, and he is continuing to cooperate in the investigation," Rand said in an email. Harrison faces up to three years in prison, restitution to the Internal Revenue Service and a potential fine when sentenced this spring. Prosecutors claim that his scheme involved disguising personal luxuries – such as a $145,000 Rolex watch and a $102,000 Cartier diamond necklace – as business expenses. “Wealthy tax cheats cannot be allowed to line their pockets at the expense of hardworking American taxpayers,” U.S. Attorney Mike Easley said in a prepared statement following the plea. Filings submitted to the court show Harrison, the former chief financial officer and majority owner of Ebenconcepts, an insurance and human resources benefits business in […]

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