Snellville Mayor Under Investigation On Taxes

SNELLVILLE, GA -- Newly elected Snellville Mayor Tom Witts is under investigation regarding his payment of taxes and other financial matters.

Investigators raided Witts' home and office late last month, seeking computer data, said Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter to WSB-TV.

Porter said the investigators were looking for information related to Witts' pledge that he did not owe the state money when he was running for office.

“From there, we’ve also moved into other areas about use of campaign funds and withholding taxes in his private business,” Porter said to the station. “We also discovered some payments that were made by the city and entities that received money from the city to his business which may or may not be problematic."

Witts did not return a message Tuesday seeking comment for this article.

No charges have been filed in the investigation. If there is evidence of possible criminal activity, Porter said, he expects the results of the investigation to be turned over to a grand jury for consideration.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation and state Department of Revenue have reportedly been part of the investigation of Witts.

Witts taxes became an issue during the mayoral election last year. He said at the time he had taken money from a 401k account to pay back taxes and penalties he owed.

A native of Simpson, Pennsylvania, Witts is a U.S. Navy veteran and CEO of Georgia Property Restoration.

He served on Snellville's city council from 2009 until last year, when he resigned to run for mayor.