Raku Sushi Owners Charged With Tax Fraud Scheme
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A pair of restaurant owners have ben charged with 46 counts of tax fraud, according to the Hennepin County Attorney's Office.
The charges allege an elaborate scheme centered around St. Louis Park's Raku Sushi & Lounge.
Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman says that the charges indicate failure to pay or collect sales taxes, as well as using an automated sales suppression device at the establishment. The investigation began in 2018, following a revenue department audit that indicated the possibility of criminal sales suppression.
"We intend to prove that this was a highly sophisticated scheme that ran for many years which cost the state more than a $200,000 in tax revenue," Freeman said. "The revenue department's investigators did an excellent job of conducting a long, difficult investigation and these crimes occurred prior to the pandemic during robust economic times."
The defendants are 43-year-old Su Qian and 45-year-old Xu Sheng Wang, both of Plymouth.
Their first appearances are scheduled for May 24 at 1:30 p.m.