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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Federal prosecutors say a Korean national has pleaded guilty in Los Angeles to evading more than $13 million in taxes on cigarettes he claimed were to be exported, but that were ultimately sold in the United States.
The U.S. Attorney's Office says Un Hag Baeg and others conspired to divert 143 million export-only cigarettes from a warehouse near the Port of Los Angeles.
Officials say the 58-year-old used fake rubber stamps to falsify paperwork indicating that the cigarettes had been delivered to cargo ships. Instead, Baeg sold them in the U.S., avoiding more than $7 million in federal excise taxes and nearly $6 million in state taxes.
Baeg, who lives in Southern California, pleaded guilty to conspiracy on Tuesday. Sentencing is set for January 28 of next year.
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