Owners of Bay Area sushi boat restaurants plead guilty to tax crimes

The owners of several Bay Area sushi boat restaurants have pleaded guilty to tax crimes, United States Attorney David Anderson announced Thursday.

Man Young Kim, 64, and Kyong Ja Kim, 58, both of Dublin pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States, prosecutors said. According to the plea agreement, the defendants admitted they failed to report on federal income tax returns the cash received from sales at their restaurants Sushi Boat Oakridge, Sushi Boat Valley Fair and Sushi Boat Westgate.

Prosecutors said the Kims admitted to not depositing some of the cash from sales and instead used the money to pay employee wages and purchase other personal and non-business items.

They provided the accountant who prepared their tax returns with only corporate bank account records and not an accounting of cash sales, and they did not pay employment taxes on cash wages paid to employees. The total loss to the government was $1.2 million, prosecutors said.

The Kims face a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 plus restitution.