New Hanover County restaurant owner charged with embezzlement

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — Businessman Marteke Latwuan Franks, 48, was arrested Thursday on felony tax charges filed by the North Carolina Department of Revenue.

He was charged with five counts of Embezzlement of State Property.

Indictments allege that Franks, sole member of Fuwangz, LLC, aided and abetted the business to embezzle, misapply, and convert to its own use approximately $79,894.22 in North Carolina Sales Taxes (State & New Hanover County) from May 1, 2016, through September 30, 2020.

During this time, Franks was a responsible person of Fuwangz, LLC, and was under a duty to collect, hold in trust, and remit North Carolina and New Hanover County Sales Tax to the North Carolina Department of Revenue, according to a press release.

Franks appeared before a Wake County magistrate and was placed under a $25,000 secured bond.  A first appearance is scheduled for February 16, 2024, in Wake County Superior Court in Raleigh.