Grayson Woman Agrees To Guilty Plea Connected To Embezzlement

GRAYSON, GA — A Grayson woman who ran several fake charities has agreed to plead guilty to tax-fraud charges in connection with a scheme to defraud Bank of America out of more than $650,000 through donations.

Taressa Hightower, 60, of Grayson was charged in Boston on Feb. 12 with two counts of filing false tax returns. A plea hearing has not yet been scheduled, according to a statement from the U.S. District Attorney's Office in Massachusetts.

Court documents state that Hightower owned two non-profits that were supposed to serve underprivileged kids in the metro Atlanta area. Between 2010 and 2015, Hightower received more than $650,000 in donations from Bank of America in Boston where an in-law, Palestine “Pam” Ace, served as a senior vice president. In return, Hightower promised Ace and her husband Jonathan about 25 percent of the donations as kickbacks.

Rather than use the money for her non-profits, according to the district attorney's statement, Hightower instead spent most of it on personal expenses. Then, in 2013 and 2014, Hightower filed false personal and organizational tax returns in connection with the purported donations.

Meanwhile, the Aces — who also funneled donations to some Boston-area charities — spent their kickbacks on a 2014 Lexus SUV, a $17,000 Kawasaki motorcycle and a lavish birthday party, according to court documents as reported by MassLive.com. For their roles in the embezzlement scheme, Palestine Ace was sentenced in 2018 to a year in prison, and Jonathan Ace was sentenced to two years.

Hightower could receive up to three years in prison, a year of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.

Read the statement on Hightower from the U.S Department of Justice.