SANTA ANA – On June 4, 2015, California Franchise Tax Board investigators arrested a married couple  in their Laguna Hills home on charges of failing to report more than $16 million in tax returns on personal and corporate income. Charles Edward Dotson, 52, and Paulette Lyn Dotson, 50,  were each charged with four felony counts of willful failure to file or make fraudulent tax returns and sentencing enhancements for aggravated white collar crime over $500,000.

“Tax evasion is not only a slap to every Californian who dutifully reports their income, it hurts California as a whole,” said California Statewide Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA) President Alan Barcelona.  “This tax evasion went on for years.”

On four occasions between April 15, 2009, and April 15, 2011, the Dotson’s  allegedly failed to timely file their California Resident Income Tax Returns for the tax years in 2008, 2009, and 2010. The defendants are accused of failing to file personal taxable income in excess of $6.2 million from 2008 to 2010.

They are also accused of owning Sterling Appraisals, Inc., a real estate appraising entity, earning nearly $10 million from Dec. 1, 2009, through Nov. 30, 2010, and failing to file a California Corporation Franchise or Income Tax Return for their business during the 2010 fiscal year. The defendants are accused of evading the payment of corporate income taxes in excess of $45,000 and personal income taxes in excess of $500,000.

If convicted, they each face a maximum sentence of 10 years in state prison.