LOUISVILLE, KY – Dong Li of Louisville, Kentucky has pled guilty in United States District Court to structuring currency transactions with three domestic financial institutions for the purpose of evading reporting requirements and to conceal the sale of counterfeit property announced David J. Hale, United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky.

Defendant Li, age 38, entered a guilty plea on December 13, 2011, before Chief U.S. District Court Judge Jennifer B. Coffman, to a one count felony Information. According to court records, between May 12, 2008 and October 22, 2009, Li made six deposits in U.S. currency in three separate accounts with deposits ranging from $5,500 to $9,000 totaling $59,650. All cash deposits were broken into amounts of less than $10,000 in order to evade mandatory reporting by the financial institutions to the Internal Revenue Service. Financial institutions are required to file a Currency Transaction Report (CTR) with the Internal Revenue Service when a customer conducts a currency transaction (i.e., a deposit or withdrawal) in excess of $10,000. Making cash deposits or withdrawals in amounts or in a manner to cause the financial institution to fail to file a CTR is referred to as “structuring” and is prohibited by federal law.

According to the plea agreement, Li will forfeit $59,650 to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and forfeits all rights to counterfeit property seized by the IRS. The counterfeit goods are considered contraband and will be destroyed or disposed of pursuant to IRS rules and regulations.

Li is scheduled for sentencing in U.S. District Court in Louisville, before Chief Judge Coffman, on January 17, 2012 at 10am.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jason Snyder and was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service/Financial Crimes Task Force.

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