Updated at 6:43 a.m., Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Florida man first tax extradition case in Hawaii
Advertiser Staff
The arraignment of a Florida man who is believed to be the first person to be extradited by the state of Hawai'i in a tax case is set for Thursday before Circuit Judge Derrick Chan.The state Department of Taxation issued a news release yesterday detailing the case.
On June 14, a True Bill returned from a Honolulu grand jury on Christopher Burns for three counts of false and fraudulent statements, two counts of theft in the first degree and one count of attempted theft in the first degree. A true bill is issued by a grand jury if, after hearing from witness from the government, it is of the opinion there is sufficient cause to put the defendant on trial.
Burns was arrested by the Pinellas County Sheriffs in Largo, Fla., on a bench warrant that had been issued by the circuit court in Honolulu for tax fraud. He was extradited to Hawai'i from Florida on Aug. 17, the news release said.
According to the news release, Burn's alleged false and fraudulent statements were committed when he filed his 2004, 2005 and 2006 state income tax returns. The department said Burns allegedly had state employment taxes withheld of $35,019, $35,710 and $75,260, when in fact the state employment taxes withheld were $570, zero and zero for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006, respectively.
The theft in the first degree stemmed from the alleged filing of false and fraudulent Hawai'i individual income tax returns for 2004 and 2005 where Burns received tax refunds, by deception, with intent to deprive the state of its property that exceeded $20,000 for 2004 and 2005, the news release stated.
The alleged attempted theft in the first degree stemmed from the filing of the false and fraudulent Hawai'i individual income tax return for 2006, where Burns attempted to received a tax refund, by deception, with intent to deprive the state of its property which exceeded $20,000, the news release stated.
