Business

A South Carolina business owner has confessed to crimes in a multimillion dollar scheme involving his company that makes gun accessories, officials said Friday.(Above video is the Friday morning headlines for Sept. 6, 2024.)Officials from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for South Carolina said Lawrencium Germaine Martin, 47, of Chester, pleaded guilty to tax evasion, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and making false statements to federal investigators.Officials said evidence was presented during the plea hearing that dated from at least 2019 through 2021.That’s when Martin operated a business known as Lancaster Tactical Supply (LTS) through the website LTacticalSupply.com. More news: Teen accused of killing 4 at his Georgia high school appears in court”LTS appeared to customers to be a legitimate business that sold firearm accessories and parts, including Glock and Sig Sauer build kits, slides, imitation suppressors, optics, and body armor,” officials said in a release. “However, at least 380 customers from 43 states lodged complaints with the Better Business Bureau and the S.C. Department of Consumer Affairs, generally alleging that LTS took their money and failed to ship the products, ultimately leaving the customer without their money or the products they paid for.”After an investigation involving the FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and IRS Criminal Investigation, officials called the revenue generated by LTS “significant.”One LTS transaction alone in 2020 generated more than $2,000,000 in revenue, officials said. They said those proceeds were deposited into Martins personal bank accounts.Investigators determined that LTS was operated out of Martins residence and Martins business location.The investigation also revealed Martin failed to pay state or federal income tax for any year from 2015 through 2022, officials said.More news: Deputies: Father accused of killing man who made inappropriate comments to teen daughterThey said Martin admitted to investigators that he evaded federal income tax. An IRS Criminal Investigation has determined that figure is more than $800,000 for 2020 alone, but Martin did not admit to a specific figure, according to officials.They said Martin admitted that he obtained the personal identifying information of another person through a legitimate employment relationship, and then operated LTS in that persons name without authorization so that revenue was reported to the IRS as attributable to that person rather than Martin.When agents searched Martins home and business in Chester with a federal search warrant, they found Martin had a 9 mm handgun despite multiple felony convictions.Those previous convictions included theft by deception, possession of stolen property, obtaining property under false pretenses, fraudulent check, larceny after breaking and entering, possession of implements used in a crime, burglary, and larceny of a motor vehicle. Agents also found shipping labels and material associated with LTS during that search, officials said.More news: New restaurant and wine bar to open in Greenville’s Judson Mill DistrictMartin admitted that when the FBI and the U.S. Attorneys Office interviewed Martin, he claimed to have never heard of LTS, to have never received money from LTS or its customers, and to not know how his name became associated with LTS. Investigators found those statements were false and material to the investigation.Martin faces up to 10 years in federal prison, mandatory restitution, a fine of up to $250,000, and up to three years of court-ordered supervision following any time in prison.Martin was placed on bond by U.S. Magistrate Judge Paige J. Gossett. U.S. District Judge Joseph F. Anderson accepted the guilty plea and will sentence Martin at a later date.