Market Owner, Accountant Indicted in Bribery of IRS Agent

A Los Angeles man and woman were indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury for allegedly trying to bribe an IRS agent in an effort to get her to reduce the amount of back taxes their businesses owed.

James J. Oh, 62, and Marie Song, 37, were charged with conspiracy, bribery of an Internal Revenue Service agent and obstruction of an IRS audit, according to court papers.

Oh owned and operated several retail grocery businesses in the Los Angeles area, including Frontier Food Warehouse, La Frontera Food and Superior Warehouse Grocers, said Assistant U.S. Atty. Jeffrey Eglash.

Song worked as the controller for Oh’s businesses.

In early 1995, the IRS began an audit of Oh’s and Song’s business and personal taxes and determined that they owed a substantial amount in back taxes.

According to the indictment, on March 4 Song met with the IRS agent and handed her a bag containing $50,000, hoping to influence the audit.

On March 12, Oh and Song met with the agent and asked her to lower the amount of back taxes they owed, court papers state. The indictment further charges that Oh and Song concealed information from the IRS agent, including the fact that Oh owned the businesses. They also allegedly withheld information about business bank accounts.

If they are convicted on all three counts of the indictment, they could face a maximum of 23 years in prison and $505,000 in fines.