A Durham businessman pleaded guilty Monday in Wake County Superior Court to tax charges filed by the North Carolina Department of Revenue.

Peter Kagwanja, 63, of 1608 Bailey Street, Durham, North Carolina, pleaded guilty on July 15, 2024 to three counts of Embezzlement of State Property.

Wake County Superior Court Judge Graham Shirley sentenced Kagwanja to a 16-month minimum, 29-month maximum prison term.  The sentence was suspended and as a condition of probation, Kagwanja was placed on supervised probation for 24 months and was ordered to perform 50 hours of community service. Prior to the plea, Kagwanja paid $10,000.00 towards restitution in the amount of 61,097.49.  Kagwanja is ordered to pay the remaining restitution in the amount of $51,097.49.

Information presented in court showed that Kagwanja, part owner and a responsible person of Lighthouse 101 Enterprises, LLLP, aided and abetted the business to embezzle, misapply, and convert to his own use $61,097.49 in State Sales Tax (State and Durham County) during the period April 1, 2019 through July 20, 2021.  During this period of time, Kagwanja was a responsible person of the business, which was under a duty to collect, hold in trust, and remit North Carolina State Taxes to the North Carolina Department of Revenue.

The charges against Kagwanja 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.