Los Angeles Clothing Company Failed to Pay $8 Million in Customs Duties

LOS ANGELES—A Los Angeles Fashion District clothing wholesaler and two of its executives will be sentenced in January for ducking more than $8 million in customs duties and using a cross-border money laundering system to avoid reporting over $17 million in suspected narcotics proceeds, federal authorities announced Wednesday.
At the conclusion of a six-week trial, a federal jury in downtown Los Angeles late Tuesday found the defendants guilty of dozens of felonies, including the company C’est Toi Jeans (CTJ) which imported apparel from China and other nations and exported clothing to customers in Mexico, Central America, and South America.
The other two defendants are Si Oh Rhew, 70, of La Cañada Flintridge, CTJ’s president and a 75 percent owner of the company, and Lance Rhew, 37, of downtown Los Angeles, Si Oh Rhew’s son, a CTJ corporate officer, and the owner of another Los Angeles-based company called GLLR Inc. that did business as CTJ….