July 7, 2022

South Carolina Department of Revenue (SCDOR) agents today arrested a Georgia man and charged him with seven counts of assisting in the preparation of false or fraudulent state tax returns.

Cortney Davonte Brown, 32, of Macon County, Georgia, filed a series of South Carolina tax returns electronically with SCDOR for five taxpayers in 2020 and 2021, according to arrest warrants. The returns, for tax years 2019 and 2020, contained false deductions totaling $230,000, the warrants allege. None of the taxpayers consented or had knowledge of the fraudulent claims.

Atlanta police arrested Brown on June 21 and SCDOR agents transported him to South Carolina today after Brown waived extradition.

If convicted, Brown faces a maximum sentence of five years and/or a fine of $500 per count, plus the cost of prosecution. He is being held in the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center in Richland County pending a bond hearing.