Date: April 17, 2024
Contact: [email protected]
A Central Ohio man was sentenced in U.S. District Court here today to 60 months in prison for embezzling more than $26 million from his Columbus employer.
As part of his sentence, Yi He, of Powell, will pay restitution to his former employer and to the IRS, and he will forfeit a Tesla vehicle.
According to court documents, Yi was a long-time and trusted employee of a furniture company that provides furniture to retailers like Wayfair, Overstock, Kohls, Walmart and Ashley. Yi was solely responsible for payroll and payroll tax-related duties for the company.
From 2018 until 2022, Yi embezzled money from the company¡¯s bank account into his own personal and financial investment accounts. Yi submitted false and fraudulent bank and financial statements to the company¡¯s leadership to remain undetected.
For example, in one wire transfer in February 2022, Yi wired himself $100,000. Yi falsified that month¡¯s bank account statement by removing the transaction entirely.
In total, Yi stole $26.5 million from the company.
Yi also helped oversee an employee incentive LLC that rewarded company employees with 10 or more years of service. The LLC offered employees a way to earn more and supplement retirement. Yi similarly embezzled from the LLC¡¯s bank accounts. For example, in one wire transfer in April 2022, he paid himself $200,000 by falsely categorizing the transfer as ¡°Rent.¡± In total, he stole $635,000 from the LLC.
Yi failed to accurately report his income to the IRS for tax years 2018 through 2021, causing a total tax loss of approximately $6.8 million.
Yi pleaded guilty in August 2023 to committing wire fraud and filing a false tax return.
Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; and Karen Wingerd, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI); announced the sentence imposed today by U.S. District Judge Sarah D. Morrison. Deputy Criminal Chief Jessica W. Knight is representing the United States in this case.