CHARLOTTE — The former owner of the Charlotte Checkers is facing federal charges for tax fraud, according to an indictment unsealed on Thursday.
Michael Kahn, 65, set up a nonprofit in 2010, held all leadership roles and transferred more than $4.5 million from the foundation to himself between 2020 and 2023, prosecutors said. He did not report the earnings on income taxes.
“Mr. Khan set up a nonprofit that wasn’t really a nonprofit,” said U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson, Western District of North Carolina. “He was the president. He was the board of directors. He was everything on the nonprofit.”
Channel 9’s Hunter Sáenz caught up with Khan Thursday outside the courthouse.
“Did you indeed falsify those tax records?” Sáenz said.
“I did not,” Khan said.
“Did you put just yourself down as the president, and secretary and treasurer of this nonprofit?” Sáenz said.
Khan didn’t reply.
‘Find you and catch you’
Kahn brought the Checkers to Charlotte in 2006. He sold the team in 2024 but remained a minority owner.
The multi-millionaire helped run Empire Distributors, a family company offering wine and spirits. He’s still listed as senior vice president.
Ferguson said Khan’s indictment is a warning for others.
“They think they can throw resources behind what they’re doing and outsmart the IRS, and I think the message is, if you really do that, eventually, we’re going to find you and catch you,” Ferguson said.
Prosecutors told the judge Khan has access to a lot of money and often uses private jets to travel.
Kahn was charged with two counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return, and two counts of failure to file a tax return.
He could face up to eight years in prison.
A judge ordered Kahn to hand over his passport and was released on bond Thursday.
He drove off Thursday in his Aston Martin.
Sáenz reached out to the Checkers for a response to the allegations, but he did had not heard back.
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