Convenience Store Operator Pleads Guilty to State Tax Charges

A Mecklenburg County businessman pleaded guilty on Monday, April 13, 2026, in Wake County Superior Court to tax charges filed by the North Carolina Department of Revenue.

Prakash Mehta, 72, 1108 Mesa Way, Waxhaw, North Carolina, pleaded guilty on April 13, 2026, to three counts of Embezzlement of State Property.

Wake County Superior Court Judge Thomas H. Lock sentenced Mehta to a 16 month minimum, 29 month maximum prison term, in two separate judgments, which will run consecutively. Both sentences were suspended and Mehta was placed on supervised probation for 24 months. As a condition of his probation, Mehta was ordered to complete 120 hours of community service. Restitution of $200,901.12 was paid prior to Mehta's plea.

Information presented in court showed that Mehta, as the President, and responsible person of Shivam, Inc, located in Charlotte, NC, assisted, or aided and abetted the business to embezzle, misapply, and convert to its own use $200,901.12 in North Carolina Sales Tax during the period of January 1, 2022 through March 31, 2024. During this period, Mehta was the responsible person of Shivam, Inc of Charlotte, dba Highland Creek BP, which was under a duty to collect, hold in trust, and remit North Carolina Sales Tax to the North Carolina Department of Revenue.

The charges against Mehta resulted from an investigation by special agents with the Department's Criminal Investigations Division in Raleigh and was prosecuted by the Special Prosecutions attorneys in the office of the Attorney General.