Photo Courtesy of Google
Lee’s karaoke bar (c.) was located on 164th Street in Flushing.
By Forum Staff
The owner of a Flushing karaoke bar recently pleadeфd guilty to failing to collect and pay over employment tax, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Kae Wook Lee was the sole owner and chief executive officer of Mona Lisa 7 Corporation, through which he operated the Mona Lisa 7 Karaoke Room on 164th Street. According to charging documents, between 2011 and 2013, Lee diverted part of his business’s receipts to bank accounts in the names of shell corporations he created. Lee then withdrew funds from those bank accounts to pay employees’ wages in cash without collecting or paying over employment taxes to the Internal Revenue Service. Lee concealed the cash payroll from his accountant and signed and filed false tax returns that underreported employee wages.
The tax loss to the IRS caused by Lee’s conduct was $612,500, federal officials noted.
Lee faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, as well as a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties, when he’s sentenced in September.
