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Donald Tankersley Pleads Guilty to 2 Counts of Tax Fraud

3 min read

Donald Tankersley, who retired last year as CEO of White Dairy Ice Cream Co. Inc. of Van Buren, waived indictment and pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on Thursday to two counts of tax fraud.

Prosecutors in the Western District of Arkansas said Tankersley, 76, of Fort Smith, wrote fake checks from company accounts to nonexistent trucking companies, then cashed those checks himself or deposited those checks in his personal accounts. He then filed fraudulent corporate and personal tax returns.

The scheme took place in the 2013 tax year, according to an information filed by prosecutors, and was uncovered by an Internal Revenue Service audit. An information is a charge filed directly by prosecutors because the defendant has waived his right to have the evidence considered by a grand jury.

More: Read the plea agreement | Read the information

“… Donald Tankersley siphoned funds from [White Dairy] by having checks created from [White Dairy] accounts and made out to nonexistent trucking companies,” prosecutors said in the information. “Donald Tankersley collected and deposited the checks into his personal bank accounts, or directed others to either deposit the checks into his personal bank accounts or cash the checks for his personal use.”

Attorneys for Tankersley did not return phone and email messages.

In the information, prosecutors listed more than $93,000 in checks written from January through November 2013 to companies with names including MSE Trucking, B&B Trucking, GRO Trucking, K&B Trucking and CY Trucking. Individual check amounts ranged from $3,081 to $5,218.

“The agents did not find any evidence that either the loads described in [White Dairy] corporate records or the trucking companies listed … existed,” prosecutors said.

When filing corporate tax returns, prosecutors said Tankersley described the checks as corporate expenses. Tankersley did not report the checks as income on his personal tax returns, they said.

According to a news release Friday from Western District U.S. Attorney Duane Kees, Tankersley has agreed to pay restitution to the IRS for a total tax loss of $188,198. Prosecutors said the offense carries maximum penalties that include up to three years in prison and a $100,000 fine.

A sentencing date has not been set.

The roots of White Dairy go back to 1928, when the Tankersley family founded the company in Fort Smith as a manufacturer of retail grocery packaged ice cream and ice cream novelty products. According to the company’s website, Don Tankersley, the son of founder Walter Tankersley Sr., joined the company in 1966 and became CEO of White Dairy in 1974. He retired as CEO in October 2018.

White Dairy’s subsidiaries are Tankersley Food Service Inc., White Dairy International Military Distribution and JR’s Trucking. Tankersley Food Service distributes food products in Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri. It ranked No. 65 on Arkansas Business’ 2019 list of the state’s 75 largest private companies, with 2018 revenue of $150 million. It has 250 employees.

In February 2013, Tankersley Food Service was named Arkansas Business of the Year in Category III of the 25th Annual Arkansas Business of the Year Awards. The awards ceremony took place four months before the IRS began its audit of the company. The IRS made its fraud referral to its Criminal Investigation Division a year later.

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