Well-known Chinatown restaurateur Tony Hu has been charged with wire fraud and money laundering for allegedly under-reporting restaurant receipts paid in cash, federal prosecutors announced Friday.
Hu, also known as Hu Xiaojun, 48, of Chicago, owns several popular restaurants in the Chicago area, including Lao Sze Chuan. His restaurants are often populated with photographs of Hu with locally prominent politicians. He was unofficial known as the mayor of Chinatown at one time.
The feds say Hu withheld sales taxes from the Illinois Department of Revenue when customers paid cash. He would then deposit that money into his personal bank account.
The Sun-Times first reported that the feds raided nine of Hu’s restaurants and his South Michigan Avenue condo in October.
