Crime

State College restaurant owner charged with felony theft, allegedly withheld $500k in sales tax

The owner of Little Szechuan and two now-closed downtown State College restaurants was accused Monday of failing to hand over more than $500,000 in sales tax collected since 2017.

Yean Ngan, 34, was also accused of not paying more than $26,000 of income tax in 2019, an investigator with the state attorney general’s office wrote in an affidavit of probable cause.

Ngan, who also goes by Sharon, did not file a personal income tax return in either 2020 or 2021, the investigator wrote.

Little Szechuan, 228 W. College Ave. opened in 2013. The business will remain open, defense lawyer Adam Klein said Monday. Ngan also owned Little Food Court and Tea Time State College; each closed in August 2021.

Ngan was charged with 13 felony counts of theft, as well as 26 misdemeanors. She was arraigned Monday by District Judge Don Hahn, who released her on $50,000 unsecured bail.

Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 24.

This story was originally published August 15, 2022 at 4:20 PM.

Bret Pallotto
Centre Daily Times
Bret Pallotto primarily reports on courts and crime for the Centre Daily Times. He was raised in Mifflin County and graduated from Lock Haven University.
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