“Garmento” Loses the Shirt Off His Back!

Posted on January 10, 2022

Sang Bum Noh, the owner of a wholesale garment company in the fashion district of downtown Los Angeles, was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison for undervaluing imported garments to avoid paying millions of dollars in import duties, failing to report millions of dollars in income, and failing to report large cash transactions.

Over the course of four years Noh undervalued imports from China by approximately 82.6 million dollars, which reduced the amount he owed in tariffs by 17.1 million dollars.

At his retail store Noh recorded cash transactions and credit card sales separately. He did not report any of the cash sales on his tax returns and underreported the credit card sales. He also received 365 cash payments at the store for more than $10,000 over a two-year period, totaling 11.1 million dollars, and did not report any of the transactions.

Authorities found $35 million dollars in cash in shoeboxes and garbage bags when they searched Noh’s Bel Air home, which was used to pay back $16,806,412 to the IRS and $18,421,443 to Customs and Border Protections. There is a forfeiture money judgment on the case of $81,564,856, and an additional forfeiture of $1,104,997 from seized funds.