Lakeville restaurant owners charged with tax crimes
LAKEVILLE, Minn. -- The Minnesota Department of Revenue says that two Lakeville restaurant owners face charges related to failing to pay sales tax.
The Dakota County Attorney's Office charged Linxiong Li and Wenzi Zeng with four felony counts each for assisting in the filing of fraudulent sales tax returns. Li faces four additional counts of willfully failing to pay sales tax.
The complaint says that Li and Zeng own the restaurant together, and the couple used their payment system to suppress sales figures, removing items from checks or altering the price of items after transactions finished.
For more than three years, between May 2016 and Dec. 2019, the complaint says the couple underreported $231,000 in total sales at the restaurant and reported the incorrect numbers to their accountant, who filed their monthly sales tax returns.
Li owes over $27,900 in sales tax, penalties, and interest, the Department of Revenue states.
Each tax-related felony charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, if a person is convicted.