DETROIT, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- Emma Bell, who had been a longtime fundraiser for ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, has been charged with income tax evasion, authorities said.
The Detroit Free Press reported Friday Bell is accused of not reporting more than $500,000 she received from Kilpatrick's inaugural and mayoral campaign committees and the Kilpatrick Civic Fund.
The Free Press said records show she is expected to plead guilty and is cooperating with authorities.
In 2006, court records indicate, Bell received at least $256,000 in checks from the Kilpatrick Inaugural Committee and Kilpatrick for Mayor campaign in 2006 but never reported the income and owes $92,065 in income taxes on it.
A charging document states she also received but did not report $278,221 in checks in 2007 from the Kilpatrick Civic Fund and the Kilpatrick inaugural and mayoral campaign committees, $63,000 in gambling winnings and $8,403 in wages. Court records say she owes $114,713 in income taxes on those earnings.
Bell is also named as the "fundraiser" in a Kilpatrick racketeering case who gave more than $286,000 in cash kickbacks to Kilpatrick between 2003 and 2008. In that case, Kilpatrick, his father and three others are charged with running a criminal enterprise to enrich themselves, the Free Press said.
Bell faces up to five years in prison and a $100,000 fine if convicted.
