A Riverside County man was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison for defrauding clients of more than $5 million and committing over $1 million in tax evasion. Frank Seung Noah, 63, of Corona, received the sentence from United States District Judge Josephine L. Staton, who also ordered him to pay $7,579,141 in restitution.
Noah pleaded guilty on February 7 to one count of tax evasion and two counts of wire fraud. He owned Comis International Inc., a logistics company based in Cerritos that provided customs import brokerage services for businesses shipping goods into the United States.
From 2007 to 2019, Noah’s company acted as a customs broker for Daiso, a Japanese variety store with U.S. locations including Southern California. During this period, Noah submitted false customs duty forms and invoices to Daiso to support fraudulent reimbursement requests for duty fees. The forms given to Daiso were different from those sent to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and inflated the amounts owed, causing Daiso to overpay by nearly $3.4 million.
After being indicted for defrauding Daiso in 2022, Noah continued fraudulent activities involving other clients. He defrauded two additional companies by invoicing them for customs duties but kept the funds instead of paying CBP. When CBP notified these clients about unpaid duties, Noah sent them altered bank statements falsely showing payment had been made.
Noah also avoided paying federal taxes resulting in a loss of approximately $2.4 million to the IRS. Despite agreeing with the IRS in 2014 that he owed more than $1 million in taxes, he took steps such as purchasing homes under another person’s name and using check cashing businesses to avoid IRS levies on his accounts.
The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations with help from United States Customs and Border Protection.
“IRS Criminal Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations investigated this matter with the assistance of United States Customs and Border Protection.”
Assistant United States Attorneys Nandor F.R. Kiss and Robert J. Keenan prosecuted the case.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California is responsible for enforcing federal laws through criminal prosecutions and civil representations across its region. It works closely with law enforcement agencies to promote public safety and provides resources for community support and crime reporting.
Serving more than 19 million residents across seven counties, according to its official website, the office handles both criminal cases and civil matters on behalf of the government.
The office maintains its main location in Los Angeles with additional offices in Santa Ana and Riverside (source). It partners with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to ensure public safety throughout its jurisdiction (source).
