CHINATOWN — World-renowned restaurateur Tony Hu pleaded guilty Monday to both charges leveled against him, federal officials confirmed.
Last week, the owner of Lao Sze Chuan and unofficial "mayor of Chinatown" was charged with a count of wire fraud and a count of money laundering.
Hu faces up to 30 years in prison and a maximum fine of $500,000, according to Joseph Fitzpatrick, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office. His sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 22.
Prosecutors say Hu failed to report $9.8 million in gross sales and withheld more than $1 million in sales tax, according to Fitzpatrick.
Attorneys with Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, the law firm that represents Hu, released a statement Monday on his behalf.
"Tony accepts responsibility for his actions," the statement reads. "He will immediately begin taking the necessary steps to make restitution and to hopefully restore faith in him as an upstanding member of society who cares deeply about his family, his friends, his community and the city he loves, Chicago."
In 2014, the FBI raided a number of Hu's Chicago restaurants, including his flagship Lao Sze Chuan at 2172 S. Archer Ave., Lao Shanghai, 2163 S. China Place, and Lao You Ju, 2002 S. Wentworth Ave.
Sealed search warrants show that Hu's restaurants allegedly underreported income by hundreds of thousands of dollars. According to the Sun-Times, the documents stated that Lao Sze Chuan in Chinatown deposited an average of nearly $231,000 per month in bank accounts but only reported $215,000 in income. Lao You Ju allegedly earned $94,000 every month but reported only $82,500 in income.
Lao Sze Chuan in suburban Downers Grove reported $1.07 million in receipts in 2009, but listed only $657,000 on its tax return that year, the warrants state, according to the Sun-Times.
Before the raids, Hu was omnipresent in Chinatown social and civic circles and appeared alongside Mayor Rahm Emanuel and city dignitaries at various neighborhood ribbon cuttings.
When Hu opened an opulent offshoot of Lao Sze Chuan in Las Vegas, a local news website there quoted Hu saying Emanuel joked with him, "I'm the mayor of Chicago, but you're the mayor of Chinatown."
The website for his restaurant group, Tony Gourmet Group, lists 13 restaurants. But news reports have suggested that he sold one or more of those restaurants.
Hu could not be reached for comment and employees at his flagship restaurant declined to comment Monday afternoon.
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