Liquor Store Owner Sentenced to Prison for Evading Income Taxes

Baltimore, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced Kwang Sik Kim, age 56, of Clarksville, Maryland, today to one year in prison, followed by six months home detention as part of three years of supervised release, for evading his 2009 income taxes. Judge Bennett also ordered that Kim forfeit $104,680 (ten percent of the structured deposits) from $260,900 seized from Kim (including cash on hand and the funds in two bank accounts) on October 18, 2011. Judge Bennett ordered that the balance of the seized funds be remitted to the Internal Revenue Service and applied to Kim’s 2008 and 2009 taxes due.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Special Agent in Charge Rick A. Raven of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, Washington, D.C. Field Office.

“Structuring bank deposits in an effort to under report your taxable income is dishonest,” said Special Agent in Charge Rick A. Raven of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, Washington, D.C. Field Office. “Mr Kim's creative attempts to evade taxes and secrete cash failed. Today's sentence closes the door on Mr Kim's deceitful and unlawful actions, reminding the American public that IRS-CI stands ready to assist the Department of Justice with enforcing our nation's tax laws.”

According to his plea agreement, Kim, is the owner of KSJB, Inc., doing business as Limetree Liquors, a liquor store operating at 1720 E. Northern Parkway in Baltimore. Between March 27, 2009 and May 5, 2011, Kim made regular deposits of cash, “structuring” his bank deposits in order to keep the deposits less than $10,000 so as to avoid bank reporting requirements, dividing his deposits between several bank accounts and depositing funds on successive days. In all, Kim deposited $1,046,800, in amounts at or below $10,000, in just over two years.

A review by the IRS of Kim’s tax returns indicates that he also under-reported his gross receipts for 2008, 2009 and 2010 by $332,916.63, $232,766.69, and $273,378.00 respectively, resulting in a federal tax loss of $97,986.02 for 2008, $62,322.25 for 2009, and $75,218.61 for 2010. Adding Maryland sales and income taxes for those same years, Kim’s total tax loss for 2008 - 2010 is $326,957.91.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the IRS - Criminal Investigation for its work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorney Stefan D. Cassella, who prosecuted the case.