Vienna Man And Parents Plead Guilty In Connection With Filing Of False Tax Returns

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Henry Washington Yeh, age 32, of Vienna, Va., pleaded guilty today to filing false and fraudulent tax returns.  Henry Yeh’s father, Jimmy An-Twig Yeh, age 57, and his mother Zhi Hua Wang Yeh, age 60, both of Vienna, Va., pleaded guilty to aiding the filing of false tax returns.
Dana J. Boente, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Karl C. Colder, Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Washington Field Division; and Thomas J. Kelly, Special Agent in Charge, Washington, D.C. Field Office, IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), made the announcement after the pleas were accepted by United States District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee.
The defendants were indicted on Sept. 24, 2013 by a federal grand jury on money laundering and tax charges.  Each defendant faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison when they are sentenced on May 9, 2014.
In a statement of facts filed with the plea agreement, Henry Yeh, a convicted drug dealer, admitted that he generated almost $1 million in illicit cash proceeds from the distribution of over 100 kilograms of marijuana from 2004 through 2009.  Yeh took steps to conceal from law enforcement and the IRS the true amount of cash proceeds he made from selling marijuana, and he solicited others to help him conceal his drug proceeds.

In 2009, 2010 and 2012, Yeh filed false and fraudulent federal income tax returns with the IRS for taxable years 2005, 2006 and 2007 by misrepresenting the actual source of his gross income and by understating the actual amount of gross income he earned from selling marijuana.  His parents, who knew Yeh earned substantial income from illicit activity, aided him in the filing of a false tax return for 2007.

Yeh purchased a number of assets with his drug proceeds either in his own name or jointly with others.  As part of their pleas, the defendants have agreed to forfeit approximately $2.1 million worth of assets, including real property in Washington, D.C. and Ashburn, Va.; $918,166.73 from an investment brokerage account; an SUV; and $100,000 in cash.

This case was investigated by the DEA’s Washington Field Division and IRS-CI.  Assistant United States Attorneys Kimberly R. Pedersen and Karen L. Taylor are prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae.  Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on https://pcl.uscourts.gov.