Whistleblower reader Lewis Strong wanted to know what happened to all of the stuff that state revenue agents seized last week from a Burnsville car audio business to satisfy a whopping tax debt. Strong’s question was well timed, because the Minnesota Department of Revenue has been eager to discuss its crackdown on Bass Zone Inc., the closed Minneapolis car audio business that was the state’s top sales tax scofflaw.

Contrary to earlier reports that described them as separate businesses, the revenue department established through subpoenaed documents that BZ3 in Burnsville is liable for Bass Zone Inc.’s tax debts, said Terri Steenblock, director of the agency’s collections division.

“We did seize all the inventory from that location,” Steenblock told me, including the “personal property” of Bun Chhein Om and his businesses, Bass Zone Inc. of 420 E. Lake St. and BZ3 of 2613 W. Hwy. 13 in Burnsville. It was the biggest seizure in Steenblock’s five years in her position, and possibly longer. The state’s still figuring out the value of the rims, speakers, amplifiers, installation accessories, under-the-vehicle lights, video-equipped headrests and other merchandise, as well as a 2003 Lexus.

So, will the tax agents now drive around in vehicles lit up in purple, woofers throbbing? Not any time soon. Om has another few days to contest the seizure. If that doesn’t happen, the state will catalog the merchandise on its web site and sell it. She wouldn’t say where the stuff is now - only that it’s a secure location.

How did Bass Zone end up with such a huge tax bill before its sales tax permit was revoked? Steenblock said the figure was calculated from a “multiperiod audit” by the agency, so it wasn’t a question of the debt getting bigger and bigger over time with no action from the state.

For the record, I called BZ3 in Burnsville in April when I was reporting my first dispatch on Bass Zone Inc., because a Google search on the latter took you straight to the former. A man who identified himself as J.D. said the businesses had nothing to do with each other, aside from BZ3’s agreement to allow Bass Zone to share its web site.

On Thursday, the phone number for Om’s listing in Bloomington was out of service. BZ3’s answering machine still works, so I left a message for Om and J.D. The web site for BZ3 now says:

“As of July 1st 2009 BZ Car Audio is no longer in business. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. Thanks, BZ Owners”

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 2nd, 2009 at 3:27 pm and is filed under Businesses in hot water. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.