MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Simon Njuku of Irondale, who managed Betty Foodmart on U.S. Highway 280 in Childersburg, plead guilty on Thursday morning in Montgomery County Circuit Court to willfully failing to pay sales taxes between January 2016 and December 2018.
Businesses must report and pay sales taxes to the Alabama Department of Revenue on a monthly basis, but 45-year-old Njuku admitted that he routinely underreported gross sales in order to reduce the store’s tax bill. An Alabama Department of Revenue investigation found underreporting for nearly three years totaling $20,454.58.
The conviction was announced by Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall. The Court imposed a reverse split sentence of three years’ probation followed by two years’ imprisonment which may be suspended upon completion of probation. Njuku was ordered to pay full restitution as well as interest and penalties of $13,765.05.
