Queens Man Convicted in Tax Scheme to Cheat Immigrant Couple of $400,000

A Queens tax preparer yesterday was convicted of running a complicated fraud scheme that prosecutors said cheated an immigrant couple with a Chinatown garment business of more than $400,000 and laundered the stolen money through the Internal Revenue Service.A jury in federal court at Brooklyn took less than two hours to convict Mon Leang Mui, known as Danny Mui, of tax evasion, interfering with the administration of tax laws, and lying to investigators.Mui, who ran the Flushing firm Mon Leang Mui & Company,twice convinced the couple to give him certified checks to cover a supposedly large tax debt.Mui then deposited the checks from Mee Ying Tung and Yee Sing Tung into his mother’s tax account, vastly overpaying her tax bill. When Mui’s mother received large tax refund checks paid into their joint account, Mui used the money to pay his own debts, prosecutors said.Mui faces up to five years in prison, according to Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Hruska. Sentencing is set for January 7.After the verdict, Mr. Hruska argued that Mui should be held in custody until sentencing because he has contacts abroad and an incentive to flee. Mr. Hruska also said that Mui, who testified in his own defense, lied in court, and – on previous occasions – to clients and investors.“At this point, if the defendant said ‘the sun is rising in the east’ I’d want to check,” the prosecutor said.U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis agreed to hold Mui in custody, citing the “overwhelming evidence that he committed these crimes” and “an avalanche of evidence that he’s committed perjury on numerous occasions.”Mui also faces a restitution payment of at least $500,000, prosecutors said.The Tungs first consulted Mui in 1990 when they learned that tax investigators were looking into their business. Prosecutors said that the couple had paid workers off the books.At Mui’s direction, the Tungs, who had lived in America for 30 years and worked their way up from menial jobs to owning a garment business, sold their house and borrowed money to pay the IRS. Later, they still were hit with a legitimate bill for the back taxes they owed.

Queens Man Convicted in Tax Scheme to Cheat Immigrant Couple of $400,000

Queens Man Convicted in Tax Scheme to Cheat Immigrant Couple of $400,000

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