Businessman Convicted in IRS Bribery Case
A La Habra businessman was convicted Tuesday of five counts of bribing an Internal Revenue Service agent in a bid to avoid paying taxes and financial penalties.
A jury found David Chiang, 41, guilty of paying more than $3,000 in cash to agent Mary Kay Pittner.
Pittner, who notified her superiors as soon as the bribe was offered, accepted the money in several installments on instructions from IRS security officers.
Chiang offered Pittner $10,000 after learning that she planned to get a court order to close down his two fast-food restaurants and take other action for his failure to pay $124,000 in back taxes, penalties and interest, Assistant U.S. Atty. Nathan J. Hochman said.
Chiang actually paid Pittner $3,400 in several installments before his arrest on April 5.
Chiang faces a maximum sentence of 75 years in prison and $1.25 million in fines.
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