Convenience Store Operator Pleads Guilty To State Tax Charges

RALEIGH, N.C. – Mecklenburg County businessman Prakash Mehta, 72, of Waxhaw, NC, pleaded guilty April 13 in Wake County Superior Court to three counts of Embezzlement of State Property. Mehta was arrested on felony tax charges on February 17, 2026. The North Carolina Department of Revenue filed the charges.

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. Judge Lock ordered Mehta to complete 120 hours of community service as a condition of his probation. Mehta paid restitution of $200,901.12 prior to his 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 from January 1, 2022, through March 31, 2024. During this time, 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.