The owners of a Torrance health food company with ties to Utah have been charged with orchestrating a tax and customs fraud scheme to avoid paying millions of dollars in taxes.
U.S. Attorney Nora Manella announced Thursday that Tei-Fu Chen, 45, of Palos Verdes Estates, his wife, Oi-Lin Chen, 44, and their company, Sunrider Corp., were charged with conspiracy, tax evasion, filing of false corporate tax returns and smuggling.On March 14, 1988, Utah agriculture officials closed Sunrider's Orem plant, citing the company for false product labeling, allegedly adding an illegal artificial sweetener, and for purportedly using raw soy found to be contaminated with salmonella bacteria.
The California investigation began in 1992 when the Chens said that products imported by Sunrider between 1986 and 1990 were undervalued.
Through Sunrider, the Chens then paid a total of $2.3 million in additional duties to U.S. Customs.