Lowcountry store owner, two employees accused of underreporting $1.6M in sales

LADSON, S.C. (WCBD)- The owner of several convenience stores in the Lowcountry and two of the stores’ operators are collectively facing more than a dozen tax-related charges.

Agents with the South Carolina Department of Revenue (SCDOR) arrested Naglaa Attwa, 37, of Ladson, and charged her with six counts of tax evasion and two counts of conspiracy.

Attwa is the owner of Adam’s Market in Berkeley County and Zone Mart in Charleston County.

The operator of Adam’s Market, 39-year-old Saif Tahat, was also arrested and charged with three counts of assisting in the false preparation of a return and one count of conspiracy. The operator of Zone Mart, 42-year-old Islam Moursy, faces the same charges.

Attwa and two co-defendants reported a total of $959,842 for the businesses in taxable income between 2019 and 2021, but an investigation found sales actually totaled nearly $2.6 million, according to SCDOR.

Investigators said the group evaded at least $1.63 million in taxable sales and owes the state at least $143,148 in sales tax.

“The SCDOR is committed to the fair administration of tax laws,” officials wrote in a news release. “By taking enforcement action against noncompliant taxpayers, the Department seeks to prevent unfairly increasing the tax burden on those who do comply.”

According to an affidavit, Attwa is listed as the owner of the stores because “she was the only legal citizen” in the group and the only one without felonies, which would have prevented the stores from obtaining an alcohol license.

But, investigators allege Attwa conspired with co-defendants to conceal her ownership, noting “she was not involved in the operations other than to provide figures to her accountant that were sent to her.”

Attwa faces up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine per count of tax evasion if convicted. Tahat and Moursy each face up to five years in prison and a $500 fine per count of assisting the false preparation of a return.

All three defendants face up to five years and a $5,000 fine for each count of conspiracy.