New Hampshire

NH Police Capt. Charged With Tax Fraud Over Assault Rifle Sales

Federal prosecutors allege Salem Police Department Capt. Michael Wagner made $33,000 selling 36 rifles bought at the Sig Sauer Academy without recording it on his taxes

salem police dept

A New Hampshire police captain was arrested Thursday and charged with tax fraud over tens of thousands of dollars he allegedly made selling assault rifles he bought at a discount, federal prosecutors in Boston announced.

Pelham resident Michael Wagner, a 48-year-old captain with the Salem Police Department in New Hampshire, was charged with filing a false tax return, according to the U.S. District Attorney's Office in Boston.

The prosecutors allege that Wagner purchased 36 assault rifles from the Sig Sauer Academy in Epping between December 2012 and January 2013, allegedly using a 25% discount offered to law enforcement. Wagner then resold the firearms sometime in 2013, earning a profit of more than $33,000, according to the indictment.

Those profits were not put on his 2013 tax return, prosecutors said.

The indictment further alleges that Wagner falsely claimed more than $10,000 in deductions on the same 2013 tax return for expenses like police equipment, ammunition and firearms.

Wagner was expected to make a videoconference appearance on the charge in federal court in Boston Thursday. It wasn't immediately clear if he had an attorney who could speak to the charge.

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