Sunrider was founded in 1982 in Orem, Utah in the United States by the Taiwan-born herbalist, Dr. Tei-Fu Chen. In the late 1980s, the company moved its headquarters to the Los Angeles area. It has since expanded into an international corporation with about forty offices worldwide.[citation needed]

In 1995 Sunrider International and its owner were charged with orchestrating a massive tax and customs fraud scheme to evade tens of millions of dollars in taxes. Chen and the Sunrider Corporation were indicted by a federal grand jury in a 20-count indictment charging them with conspiracy, tax evasion, filing of false corporate tax returns, and smuggling. In 1997, the Chens entered into a plea bargain with the court on the charges of tax evasion and customs fraud. Tei-Fu Chen served nearly a year in minimum security prison while his wife, Oi-Lin Chen, served six months of home detention. The couple paid over $100 million in back taxes, interest and penalties and an additional $4 million to avoid forfeiting the items they were accused of smuggling and undervaluing