Leader of multimillion-dollar tobacco tax fraud and money laundering conspiracy sentenced to prison

Nicholas W. Brown U.S. Attorney
Western District of Washington
Photo courtesy US Dept of Justice

Seattle – A leader of a scheme to cheat Washington State out of more than $10 million in tobacco excise taxes was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 26 months in prison, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. 

Hyung Il Kwon, 48, of Henderson, Nevada, was the secret owner of TK Mac, a company that owned and operated two smoke shops in Federal Way and Lynnwood, Washington. 

Kwon conspired with others to cheat the state out of tobacco excise taxes; he also evaded more than $850,000 in federal income taxes. 

At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge James L. Robart noted that Kwon has a prior state conviction from a similar tobacco fraud scheme, and said, “You [Kwon] have almost no respect for the law whatsoever when it gets in the way of making money.”

“For years, Mr. Kwon repeatedly laundered cash and created false invoices to avoid paying tobacco excise taxes. This didn’t just hurt the state coffers, it gave his business a competitive advantage over other small stores,” said U.S. Attorney Brown. 

“Now Mr. Kwon has a substantial restitution obligation, which will follow him even after he serves his prison term.”

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