Cabinet manufacturer gets prison time for tax, credit card fraud

CHARLOTTE — James Christopher Robinson, a 52-year-old from Granite Falls, received his sentence on Tuesday for committing tax and credit card fraud.

He’s looking at 30 months behind bars and will be under supervision for another two years, Dena J. King, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina announced.

He must also pay back over $4.4 million in restitution.

Robinson was the owner of multiple cabinet manufacturing and retail businesses in the Hickory area and between March 2020 and April 2023, he accessed the credit cards of Cabinet Companies’ customers without authorization.

He made 294 fraudulent credit card charges totaling approximately $1 million, according to court documents and the sentencing hearing.

Robinson also made at least four counterfeit checks totaling more than $93,000, using information from real checks written to his Cabinet Companies by customers.

Two of Robinson’s companies failed to comply with their employment tax obligations between 2017 and 2022.

He also didn’t account for and pay of over more than $3.1 million in employment taxes, according to court records.

Robinson used the stolen money to withdraw large amounts of cash from his business accounts and make hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash deposits at casinos.

He pleaded guilty on Jan. 17 to access device fraud and failure to truthfully account for and pay over trust fund taxes.

He was released on bond and will be ordered to report to federal prison.

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