Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul announcing that a Rock Island County business owner has been sentenced to four years in prison for stealing more than $300,000 in use tax revenue by altering tax documents to steal from customers. Vickie Brown, 63, of Milan, pleaded guilty to one count of theft over $100,000 and one count of failure to remit Illinois use tax. Rock Island Circuit Court Judge Norma Kauzlarich sentenced Brown Tuesday to four years in prison and ordered her to pay $316,438.23 in restitution.
Brown operated Milan License, Inc., which offers licensing and tax filing services for cars, boats and other equipment purchased outside of Illinois. The Attorney General’s office filed charges against Brown in 2017 alleging that between January 2014 and June 2016, Brown knowingly prepared fraudulent use tax returns that included false deductions and exemptions that did not apply. She then billed her customers for the full tax bill and kept the difference. Through the scheme, Brown stole more than $300,000 in state tax revenue from hundreds of customers who believed they were paying taxes to the Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR).
The investigation was conducted by the IDOR’s Criminal Investigations Division.
Assistant Attorney General Alexis Overstreet handled the case for Raoul’s Special Prosecutions Bureau.