Valley retail business owner sentenced to 2 years for tax evasion scheme

PHOENIX – A Valley businessman was recently sentenced to two years in federal prison for underreporting his income by millions of dollars, authorities said.

Sung Hwan Lee, 64, of Peoria, pleaded guilty to tax evasion in March and was sentenced last month, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona said in a press release last week.

Lee owned and operated the BBB Fashion chain of clothing stores in metro Phoenix and Tucson.

Prosecutors say he directed employees to leave cash receipts out of records for five years to reduce his tax burden.

He underreported his income by more than $9 million during the 2012-16 tax years, resulting in an underpayment of nearly $3.7 million in federal taxes.

BBB Fashion’s bookkeeper, Young Bok Lee, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the federal government as part of the scheme and is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 1.

Young Bok Lee is accused of keeping falsified books at Sung Hwan Lee’s direction and giving the company’s accountant the fraudulent records at tax time.

Related

Owner of BBB Fashion stores in Arizona pleads guilty to tax evasionScottsdale businessman found guilty on federal tax evasion chargesSAFE Alert canceled after missing 77-year-old woman last seen in Phoenix found safeArizona erases more than $1 billion in medical debt for nearly 671,000 residentsNew website on Surprise ICE facility shows city still in the dark on key questionsAvondale PD investigating ‘suspicious’ disappearance of 3 missing family members