Meili Lin, AKA Ally Lin, and Jyh-Chau Horng, AKA Henry Horng, were arraigned on charges of tax and mortgage fraud for allegedly filing false tax returns and submitting mortgage applications to federally insured lenders that contained materially false information.
A federal grand jury in San Jose, California, indicted Lin and Horng on two counts of filing false tax returns, in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7206(1), on January 28, 2015. Horng was also charged with one count of making false statements to a government agency, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(2), and two counts of making false statements to a federally insured institution, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1014. Lin was also separately charged with one count of making false statements to a federally insured institution, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1014.
According to the Indictment, Lin and Horng, then a married couple residing in Saratoga, Calif., filed joint federal income tax returns for 2006 and 2007 which underreported their income, and which failed to disclose Lin’s interest in foreign financial accounts in 2006. The Indictment alleges that Horng subsequently made several materially false statements to an IRS Revenue Agent regarding the couple’s income and Lin’s foreign accounts, among other things. The Indictment further alleges that Lin and Horng both submitted mortgage applications to federally insured lenders that contained materially false information.
The defendants were arrested and made their initial appearances in federal court today in San Jose before the Honorable Paul S. Grewal, U.S. Magistrate Judge. Lin and Horng are next scheduled to appear before Judge Grewal on February 13, 2015 at 1:30 pm.
The maximum statutory penalty for each count of filing a false tax return, in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7206(1), is three years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum statutory penalty for making false statements to a government agency. in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(2), is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum statutory penalty for each count of making false statements to a federally insured institution, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1014, is thirty years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine. 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.
United States Attorney Melinda Haag and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge José M. Martinez, announced the charges.
Michael G. Pitman is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the IRS, Criminal Investigation.
