Hammonton Man Indicted on Charges of Fradulent Tax Filings, Money Laundering

An Atlantic County Grand Jury has returned an indictment against 67-year-old Pat L. Christopher of Hammonton for theft, fraudulent tax filings, and money laundering.

Atlantic County Prosecutor Damon G. Tyner's office says Christopher was indicted on August 28th for four counts of first degree money laundering and two counts of second degree theft. Christopher was also indicted for fraudulently filing New Jersey income tax returns and failing to pay New Jersey income tax on unreported income for a period of five years.

Christopher is the co-owner and president of Hammonton-based Christopher Construction Company, LLC. According to authorities, an investigation conducted by the prosecutor's office found Christopher, working in his capacity within the business, stole in excess of $1.1 million that belonged to the company and its co-owners. Christopher reported that certain transactions were business expenses when actually he doctored the company business account to pay his own personal credit card expenses without the co-owners knowledge. Authorities say Christopher participated in this fraudulent practice for approximately ten years. Also, a review of the defendant’s tax returns showed that he was not reporting this additional compensation on his 1040 tax form for a period of five years.