Bridgeport, Connecticut–DA YING, 56, of Beijing, China, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to engaging in a pattern of financial transactions to evade reporting requirements.
As part of the resolution of this case, YING agreed to the civil forfeiture of $175,938 of the money he structured in Connecticut. He also agreed to pay the Internal Revenue Service $113,195 in unpaid federal taxes, plus penalties and interest for 2009, 2010 and 2011.
YING is scheduled to be sentenced on May 11, 2017, at which time he faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a fine of up to $500,000. YING was released pending sentencing.
According to court documents and statements made in court, between April 2011 and March 2012, while he was a resident of Farmington, Conn., YING structured or caused to be structured 50 cash deposits in amounts less than $10,000.01 into his and his wife’s six accounts at four banks in Connecticut. The cash deposits, which totaled $464,400, were frequently made on the same day at different banks or on sequential days at the same or different banks. YING knew that banks were required to issue a report for a currency transaction in excess of $10,000, and his structuring activity was intended to evade the transaction reporting requirements.
Federal law requires all financial institutions to file a Currency Transaction Report (“CTR”) for currency transactions that exceed $10,000. To evade the filing of a CTR, individuals will often structure their currency transactions so that no single transaction exceeds $10,000. Structuring involves the repeated depositing or withdrawal of amounts of cash less than the $10,000.01 limit, or the splitting of a cash transaction that exceeds $10,000 into smaller cash transactions in an effort to avoid the reporting requirements. Even if the deposited funds are derived from a legitimate means, financial transactions conducted in this manner are still in violation of federal criminal law.
