Man Who Offered Bribe to IRS Agent Gets Prison Sentence
LOS ANGELES — A La Habra businessman convicted of bribing an agent of the Internal Revenue Service was sentenced this week to 27 months in prison.
David Chiang, 41, was found guilty of offering the agent $10,000 in cash if she would eliminate $124,000 in taxes, penalties and interest that he failed to pay to the IRS on money he withheld from his employees’ salaries.
Chiang was the owner and president of East Hill Management Corp., which ran two Arby’s restaurants--one in La Habra and one in Covina.
Although he promised to pay the back taxes for three years, he never did so, federal authorities found. When agent Mary Kay Pittner told him she planned to obtain a court order to shut down his two fast-food restaurants, he made the bribe offer, according to the IRS.
Chiang was arrested in April, and the IRS seized his business assets.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
