RALEIGH – A Hertford County business owner was arrested Thursday on felony tax charges filed by the North Carolina Department of Revenue.

Jeana Godwin Cowan, 42, of 447 Godwin Town Road, Ahoskie, North Carolina was charged Dec. 11 with two counts of embezzlement of state property, and one count of embezzlement of Hertford County property.

Arrest warrants allege that Cowan, owner of Godwin’s Country Meats, embezzled, misapplied and converted to her own use North Carolina and Hertford County sales tax from Oct. 1, 2012 through Jan. 20 of this year.  An additional warrant alleged that Cowan also embezzled, misapplied and converted to her own use North Carolina withholding tax from Oct. 1, 2012 through Jan. 31, 2014.

The total sales and withholding tax alleged to have been embezzled equals $29,714.33.

During this period of time, Cowan was the owner and responsible person of Godwin’s Country Meats, which was under a duty to collect, hold in trust, and remit North Carolina state taxes to the North Carolina Department of Revenue.

Cowan appeared before a Hertford County magistrate and was placed under a $30,000 secured bond.  A first appearance was scheduled for Dec. 16 in Wake County District Court in Raleigh.

The charges against Cowan resulted from an investigation by a special agent with the Department’s Criminal Investigations Section in Raleigh.