Employee of Shelby County Business Sentenced to Two Years on Sales Tax Fraud and Theft

Memphis, Tenn. - The Special Investigations Section of the Tennessee Department of Revenue conducted the investigation that led to the August 30, 2013, sentencing of Ameed Jabr, age 29, of Cordova, Tennessee. The sentencing related to Jabr's previous guilty pleas to one count of Sales Tax Fraud and one count of Theft of Property over $1,000 in January 2013.

Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Chris Craft sentenced Jabr, previous manager of Kwik Stop Grocery & Deli located at 1571 East Person Ave. in Memphis, to two years in prison. Judge Craft suspended the sentence and placed Jabr on supervised probation for two years and ordered him to make restitution to the Tennessee Department of Revenue of $8,800.89.

"Tennessee's tax structure depends on taxpayers voluntarily complying with the laws," said Revenue Commissioner Richard H. Roberts. "Taxpayers who collect but intentionally do not remit sales tax, breach the public's trust and violate the criminal laws of the State. This case underscores our commitment to rigorous and fair administration of Tennessee's tax laws."

Citizens who suspect violations of Tennessee's revenue laws should call the toll-free tax fraud hot line at (800) FRAUDTX (372-8389).

In addition to collecting state taxes, $2.0 billion of local sales and business taxes were collected by the department for local governments during the 2012 fiscal year. Besides collecting taxes, the department enforces the revenue laws fairly and impartially in an effort to encourage voluntary taxpayer compliance. The department also apportions revenue collections for distribution to the various state funds and local units of government. To learn more about the department, log on to www.TN.gov/revenue.

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