A former owner of Sunny Asian Health Massage in Detroit Lakes has been hit with 22 felony tax charges in Becker County District Court.
Jinlan Li, 62, of rural Hawley, has been charged with six counts of failing to file taxes, 11 counts of failing to pay or collect sales taxes, and five counts of filing false or fraudulent tax returns.
She owes more than $119,000 in unpaid income and sales taxes, according to the criminal complaint.
No sales tax returns were filed with the state during the time she and her husband, Scott David Anderson, 67, owned Sunny Asian Health Massage, from May 1, 2015, through Feb. 29, 2020.
The business provided massages, which are subject to the sales tax in Minnesota.
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In August of 2020, Li was sentenced in Becker County District Court on a gross misdemeanor charge of keeping a disorderly house.
Two felony counts of soliciting, inducing or promoting prostitution were dropped in a plea agreement. The charges were the result of a sting operation on Sept. 10, 2019, by two Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension agents.
It was carried out at the request of local law enforcement, which had been getting numerous reports of possible prostitution-related activities at the massage business since 2015, according to court records.
On April 23, District Judge Michelle Winkis Lawson issued a summons for Li to appear in court on the tax charges on May 17.
