관세포탈 등 혐의로 기소된 한인 대형 의류업체 ‘앰비앙스(Ambiance)’ 노상범(67) 대표가 6일 캘리포니아 센트럴 연방 지법에서 열린 선고공판에서 1년형을 선고받았다.
지난해 8월 기소된 노 대표는 지난 2010~2014년 수입가격을 낮춰 신고함으로써 1720만 달러의 관세를 포탈한 혐의에 대해 유죄를 인정했다.
앰비앙스와 계약을 맺은 아시아 의류 제조사들은 실제가격과 원가의 60~70%로 기재된 2개의 인보이스를 준비했고,  이 인보이스는 관세를 회피할 목적으로 연방 세관국경보호국(CBP)에 제출해왔다고 검찰은 밝혔다.
앰비앙스는 이런 방식으로 4년 반 동안 수입 가격의 8260만 달러를 낮춰 보고해온 것으로 전해졌다.

이외에도 해외 의류 판매 및 종업원 급여 지급 등의 목적으로 1만 달러 이상의 미신고 현금거래를 364차례 했고, 이중장부를 작성해 매출을 숨기고 수익을 빼돌린 혐의를 받았다.
한편, 지난해 8월 노 대표는 세금미납 및 탈세사기 혐의를 인정하고 지난 2014년 당시 압류된 3630만 달러 외에 추가로 8150만 달러 등 총 추징금 1억1780만 달러를 납부하기로 했다.



The owner of a garment wholesaling company in the Fashion District of downtown Los Angeles was sentenced today to 12 months and one day in federal prison for scheming to undervalue imported garments and avoid paying millions of dollars in duties to the United States, failing to report millions of dollars in income on tax returns, and failing to report large cash transactions to the federal government.

Sang Bum “Ed” Noh, 67, of Bel-Air, who owns Ambiance Apparel, was sentenced by United States District Judge Virginia A. Phillips.

Ambiance Apparel – the operating name for two corporations, Ambiance U.S.A. Inc. and Apparel Line U.S.A. Inc. – pleaded guilty in October 2020 to eight criminal counts, including conspiracy, money laundering and customs offenses, was sentenced to a term of five years’ probation and has been ordered to implement an effective anti-money laundering compliance and ethics program with an outside compliance monitor. There is a restitution order in this case for $35,227,855, a forfeiture money judgment of $81,564,856, and the additional forfeiture of $1,104,997 previously seized by law enforcement.

Court documents outline separate schemes involving Ambiance and Noh, which came to an end in September 2014 when law enforcement authorities executed dozens of search warrants as part of an investigation into money laundering and other crimes at Fashion District businesses.

Noh “made defrauding the United States a significant revenue stream for Ambiance, appropriating approximately $35,227,855.45 from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Internal Revenue Service in less than four years,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. “While [Noh] was cheating the United States and facilitating money laundering [by failing to file Forms 8300], he enjoyed a house in Bel Air, bought luxury cars, and squirreled away bundles of cash worth $35 million in shoeboxes and garbage bags.”