Granite Falls Man Pleads Guilty to Tax and Credit Card Fraud

A Granite Falls man pleaded guilty on Wednesday (17th)  to federal charges of tax and credit card fraud. 
James Christopher Robinson, 51 of Granite Falls, admitted while as owner of multiple cabinet manufacturing and retail businesses in the Hickory area, that he accessed the credit cards of customers without authorization and made 294 fraudulent credit card charges totaling approximately $1 million dollars between March of 2020 and April of 2023. Robinson also created at least four counterfeit checks totaling more than $93,000  using information from checks written to his companies by customers.
Plea documents also show that for tax years 2017 to 2022, Robinson caused two of his companies to fail to comply with their employment tax obligations by failing to timely account for and pay more than $3.1 million in employment taxes.
Robinson pleaded guilty to access device fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, and failure to truthfully account for and pay over trust fund taxes which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Robinson is released on bond. A sentencing date has not been set.