ORCHARD LAKE, Mich. – Christina and Dong Hyun Chang, owners of Sushi Samurai Inc., pleaded guilty to 64 felonies for embezzling sales tax and underreporting their income.
Authorities said the plea was entered Thursday night in the 6th Circuit Court in Oakland County. The couple pleaded guilty to 64 felonies, but still face the following charges -- one count of embezzlement over $100,000, one count of conspiracy to embezzle over $100,000, one count of possession of an automated sales suppression device, 59 counts of filing false monthly sales tax returns, and five counts of filing false joint income tax returns.
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An automated sales suppression device is a software program that falsifies the electronic records of point of sale systems for the purpose of tax evasion.
The Department of Attorney General and the Department of Treasury led a joint investigation into the potential automated sales suppression device discovered the illegal activities, leading to the charges against the Changs. It was revealed that Sushi Samurai’s actual sales were significantly higher than what the owners reported to the state. It’s believed that thousands of sales receipts had been deleted from their system, according to authorities.
“This business knowingly cheated the law for their own personal gain,” said Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette. “This case is a result of a collaboration between the Department of Attorney General and Department of Treasury, and I want to thank everyone involved for their hard work in stopping this illegal activity to resolve this case.”
Authorities believe that they had embezzled over $170,000 in sales tax alone, with over $2.5 million in sales never reported. Sentencing has been set for Nov. 30.
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