U.S. Citizen Indicted For Filing False Tax Returns, Failing To Report Foreign Bank Account

SAN JOSE - A federal grand jury has indicted Chunsheng “Jay” Huang on charges of filing a false tax return and failing to file a report of a foreign bank or financial account, announced United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey; Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Special Agent in Charge of the Oakland Field Office Darren Lian; and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent in Charge Robert K. Tripp. The indictment was handed down on November 1, 2022, but unsealed this week.

According to the indictment, Huang, 67, of San Jose, is alleged to have been an employee of a company based in Milpitas, California, for over 15 years while also working for companies based in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) for at least six of those years. The indictment alleges that Huang used an account with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) in his sister-in-law’s name to receive payments from two companies in the PRC. The indictment alleges that Huang failed to report that income on his federal tax returns for 2016 through 2020.

In addition to the obligation to report foreign income for tax purposes, the indictment alleges that United States citizens and residents who have a financial interest in, or signature or other authority over, a bank account in a foreign country with an aggregate value of more than $10,000 at any time during a particular calendar year are required to file with the United States Treasury, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), FinCEN Form 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (“FBAR”) for that year. The indictment alleges that Huang failed to file the required FBAR report for the ICBC account for 2019 and 2020.

Huang has not made an appearance in the case. An arrest warrant was issued at the time of the indictment.

An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, Huang faces a maximum sentence of (i) three years of imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, one year of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment for each count of violating 26 U.S.C. § 7206(1) (Making and Subscribing a False Tax Return); and (ii) 10 years of imprisonment, a $500,000 fine, three years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment for each count of violating 31 U.S.C. §§ 5314 and 5322(b) (Failure to File Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts). However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.

The case is being prosecuted by the Special Prosecutions section of the United States Attorney’s Office. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by IRS-CI and the FBI.