Owners Of Bay Area Sushi Boat Restaurants Plead Guilty To Tax Crimes

OAKLAND - Man Young Kim and Kyong Ja Kim, aka Angie Kim, pleaded guilty in federal court in Oakland today to conspiracy to defraud the United States, announced United States Attorney David L. Anderson and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Special Agent in Charge Kareem Carter.  The guilty plea was accepted by the Honorable Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, U.S. District Judge.

According to the plea agreement, Man Kim, 64, and Angie Kim, 58, both of Dublin, Calif., admitted they failed to report on federal income tax returns the cash received from sales at their restaurants, Sushi Boat Oakridge, Sushi Boat Valley Fair, and Sushi Boat Westgate.  The Kims admitted they deposited funds from the restaurants’ credit card sales into a corporate bank account but did not deposit most of the cash.  Instead, the Kims used the cash to pay employee wages and to purchase other personal non-business-related items, including real property.  The Kims acknowledged they maintained detailed spiral notebooks that recorded daily credit card and cash sales.  Further, the Kims admitted they used a certified public accountant to prepare their tax returns, but provided the accountant with only the corporate bank account records, not the spiral notebooks that showed cash sales.  Man Kim also admitted he did not pay employment taxes on the cash wages he paid to the restaurant employees.  The total loss to the government resulting from the Kims’ income tax and employment tax scheme is $1,152,622.66.  

A federal grand jury indicted the Kims on June 29, 2017.  Both defendants were charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371.  Man Kim was also charged with three counts of filing a false tax return, in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7206(1), and nine counts of willful failure to account for and pay employment taxes, in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7202.  Angie Kim was also charged with three counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7206(2).  The Kims both pleaded guilty to the conspiracy count.  If they comply with the plea agreement, the additional charges will be dismissed at sentencing. 

The Kims currently are released on bond, pending sentencing.  Judge Gonzalez Rogers scheduled their sentencing hearing for July 18, 2019.  The maximum statutory penalty for conspiracy in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 is 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, plus restitution, if appropriate.  However, any sentence will be imposed by the court only after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Cynthia Stier is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Kathy Tat.  The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the IRS-CI.