Sicklerville Man Imprisoned For Tax Fraud For The 2nd Time

CAMDEN, NJ — A Sicklerville man was imprisoned for tax fraud for the second time after concealing employee wages from the IRS and pocketing some of the money.

Chung "Alex" Lam, 46, was sentenced Tuesday to 40 months behind bars in Camden federal court.

Lam has been convicted of tax fraud on two separate occasions. In both cases, Lam coordinated efforts to hide payroll wages of temporary-staffing agencies from the IRS, according to federal authorities.

In 2018, Lam pleaded guilty in federal court to not paying payroll taxes while he ran a temporary-staffing company for temporary employment. He was sentenced to 18 months is prison, which he served from 2019-20.

Before going to prison and after getting released, Lam conspired with the owners of different temp agencies to defraud the IRS, authorities said.

Between 2018 and 2023, Lam received checks that the temp agencies received for offering temporary employees to different businesses, officials said. The agencies were responsible for paying the employees and submitting payroll taxes.

Lam cashed more than $4 million in checks at a commercial check casher during that time. He pocketed some of the money and gave the rest to his co-conspirators to pay the temporary workers in cash, authorities said.

In February, Lam pleaded guilty to tax fraud once again. He admitted that the conspiracy caused a tax loss of $628,351.

Once he's out of prison, Lam must undergo three years of supervised release.