Michigan Restaurateurs Charged With 65 Felonies For Tax Fraud

The restaurant business is a difficult one, but the owners of a sushi restaurant in Michigan were actually doing very well until they were arrested and charged with 65 felonies for claiming business at their restaurant was not as good as it actually was.

According to CBS, Dong Hyun Chang and Christina Sang Chang own a restaurant called Sushi Samurai in Orchard Lake, Michigan, and this week they were arrested and charged with 65 felonies, including embezzlement, conspiracy to embezzle, five counts of filing false joint income tax returns, possession of an automated sales suppression device, and 59 counts of filing false sales tax returns. Those are a whole lot of felonies, and embezzlement of more than $100,000 carries a potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

The Changs have allegedly been using illegal "zapper" software to delete sales records from the restaurant's point of sale, which allowed them to pretend their income was significantly lower than it actually was. Prosecutors say the couple deleted thousands of receipts, embezzled more than $170,000 in sales tax receipts, and failed to report more than $2.5 million in sales between 2012 and 2016.

The couple was released on bond on the condition that they surrender their passports and wear GPS monitors. Their next court date is May 1.