Former executive of Spokane Valley company faces tax evasion charges

A former Fasteners chief executive, accused of stealing money from the Spokane Valley company, now faces a grand jury indictment for tax evasion.

William Kevin Jones was charged with four counts of federal income tax evasion last week. According to the indictment, he misrepresented how much he and his wife earned during a four-year span.

Jones understated the couple’s income as $149,330 in 2012; $189,458 in 2013; $169,855 in 2014; and $205,221 in 2015, according to court records.

For each of those years, Jones filed “a false and fraudulent joint U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, Form 1040, on behalf of himself and his spouse,” court records say.

Jones’ attorney, Roger Peven, said the tax evasion charges are related to the Fasteners Inc. case. Jones was indicted by a grand jury in December on accusations he used at least $120,648 in company money for personal use.

Jones pleaded not guilty to taking to the money, and he “intends to plead not guilty to these charges as well,” Peven said.

“Mr. Jones has been an honored and respected citizen of Spokane his entire life,” Peven said. “These charges will be appropriately litigated in court.”

If convicted in the tax evasion case, Jones could face up to five years in prison on each count and/or a $100,000 fine.

The Fasteners case is scheduled to go to trial Sept. 24 in U.S. District Court in Spokane. Jones is charged with 16 counts of wire fraud in the indictment.

Prosecutors asked for additional time to bring the case to trial, because of the complexity of getting data from Fasteners’ computer server.