Clothing Wholesaler Owner Sentenced to 12 Months in Prison for Customs Violations

Sang Bum Noh, owner of Los Angeles-based garment wholesaler Ambiance Apparel, was sentenced to 12 months and one day in federal prison for conspiring to undervalue imported garments and skirting millions in import duties, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California said Dec. 6. Noh also failed to report millions of dollars in income on tax returns and failed to report large cash transactions, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

In a separate action, Ambiance Apparel -- which is the operating name for both Ambiance U.S.A. and Apparel Line U.S.A. -- pleaded guilty in October 2020 to customs offenses and money laundering and was sentenced to five years' probation. Court documents outline separate schemes for Ambiance and Noh, which halted in 2014 when a money laundering investigation searched Fashion District businesses, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Ambiance submitted fraudulent invoices to CBP that undervalued clothing shipments from Asia, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. The Asian manufacturers produced two invoices for the clothing orders, one at 60% to 70% of the shipment's actual value and one with the actual value. This scheme allowed Ambiance to undervalue their imports by about $82.6 million and avoid over $17.1 million in tariffs.

In a sentencing brief, prosecutors said that 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." The funds Noh owed to the government -- $16.8 million to the IRS and $18.4 million to CBP -- came from seized funds, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.