Manning store owner charged with tax evasion, faces 15 years in prison

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The owner of a Manning tobacco store faces up to 15 years in prison after authorities charged him Thursday with tax evasion. The South Carolina Department of Revenue released a statement Thursday saying that Ibrahim Said, owner and operator of Express Discount Tobacco on Paxville Highway in Manning, had been charged with three counts of tax evasion. He was arrested and taken to the Clarendon County Detention Center, the release stated. Said allegedly, from 2014-16, filed his business' monthly sales tax returns and reported gross sales totaling $774,183. An investigation by the Department of Revenue found his actual sales for this same period were $2,032,511. "Suspect failed to report $1,258,328 in sales and evaded paying approximately $100,666 in sales tax due to the state of South Carolina," the release states. Said is currently being held at the Clarendon County Detention Center. If convicted, the maximum penalty Said faces is five years in prison, per count, and $10,000 fines, also per count, according to SCDOR.