RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — A business owner based in North Carolina pleaded guilty on Monday to embezzling state funds in order to help his restaurant, according to the N.C. Department of Revenue.
Charles Joseph Pippa was sentenced on three counts of aid and abet embezzlement of state property. According to court documents, Pippa, president of Pippa’s Café in Concord, helped the business embezzle, misapply and convert to its own use about $139,977 in North Carolina sales tax between Feb. 2017 to Dec. 2019.
Other information showed that Pippa, President of Frogels, Inc., did business as The Sweet Spot, embezzling $10,647 in North Carolina sales tax between Feb. and Dec. 2019.
The Department of Revenue said Pippa was in charge of both businesses and acted as an agent of the State who was under a duty to collect, hold in trust, and remit North Carolina Sales Taxes to the North Carolina Department of Revenue.
Wake County Superior Court Judge Keith Gregory sentenced Pippa to a minimum of 16 months and a maximum of 29 months in prison.
The sentence was suspended and Pippa was placed on supervised probation for two years. As a condition of his probation, Pippa was ordered to be placed under electronic home monitoring for two months and will complete 100 hours of community service.
The Department of Revenue said he paid $150,625.13 in restitution before his plea deal.
The case was prosecuted by the special prosecutions attorneys in the office of the North Carolina Attorney General.
