A man from Sicklerville, New Jersey, has been sentenced to 40 months in prison for his role in a conspiracy to defraud the IRS. Chung “Alex” Lam, 46, admitted to working with others to hide cash wages paid to employees. U.S. Attorney Alina Habba made the announcement following the sentencing.
Lam had previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Edward S. Kiel to conspiring against the United States. The sentence was delivered in Camden federal court.
Court documents reveal that Lam had already served an 18-month sentence for failing to pay payroll taxes in 2018. Upon his release, he conspired with owners of temporary staffing companies, which were supposed to handle payroll taxes for their workers but instead paid them in cash without reporting it.
Between early 2018 and mid-2023, Lam negotiated checks totaling over $4 million through a commercial check casher. He retained some funds for himself and used the remainder to pay workers off-the-books, resulting in uncollected payroll taxes. He also filed false tax returns omitting this income, contributing to a tax loss of approximately $628,351.
In addition to his prison term, Lam will serve three years of supervised release after completing his sentence.
U.S. Attorney Habba credited IRS-Criminal Investigation special agents under Special Agent Jenifer Piovesan's direction for their work on the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Bender represented the government during proceedings.
Defense counsel John B. Brennan of Marlton represented Lam in this matter.
