ANNAPOLIS, MD (October 24, 2006) — Comptroller William Donald Schaefer today announced that agents of his Field Enforcement Bureau have arrested Sung Man Yoon, owner of Quick Save Mart & Citgo Gas, in Annapolis, for selling cigarettes without a license. Mr. Yoon was found guilty in court, Friday, Oct. 20, on six separate charges: three counts of selling cigarettes without a license and three charges for doing business without a trader’s license. Mr. Yoon was sentenced to 30 days in jail (suspended), three years unsupervised probation, $1,000 fine and forfeiture of $21,121 in cigarettes.
Mr. Yoon failed to have his business license renewed with the state this year by not paying $34,291 in sales and use taxes and $3,879 in withholding taxes.
“My enforcement agents know their jobs and do them well,” said Comptroller Schaefer. “If you’re thinking about smuggling cigarettes through Maryland or selling them without a license, you should think again.”
Mr. Yoon’s July 26, 2006, arrest for selling cigarettes without a license is not his first run-in with the Comptroller’s Office. A lien has been filed in the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County to bring Mr. Yoon into compliance for his $38,171 tax debt with the state.
In September 2005, Mr. Yoon was served with a criminal summons for the repeated sale of cigarettes without a license and doing business without a trader’s license. Mr. Yoon was found guilty and could have faced 30 days in jail and a $1,000 fine at that time, but was granted probation before judgment and ordered to pay a $500 fine by the District Court for Anne Arundel County. The 4,390 packs of cigarettes confiscated by the Comptroller’s Office were later returned to Mr. Yoon.
The penalty for operating without a license in Maryland is a $1,000 fine and/or 30 days in jail (State Business Regulation, Title 16, Subtitle 16-214 (b), of the Annotated Code of Maryland). The penalty for operating without a trader’s license in Maryland is a $300 fine and/or 30 days in jail (State Business Regulation, Title 17, Subtitle 17-2106, of the Annotated Code of Maryland). Both violations are misdemeanors.
Thus far in fiscal year 2007, the Comptroller’s Office has arrested 18 people for tobacco violations, seized 14,267 packs of cigarettes, valued at $61,555.18, representing a tax loss to the state of $9,327.
CONTACT:
Michael D. Golden, 410-260-7305
Kevin P. Kane, 410-260-7578
