SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Sept. 4, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — A federal indictment unsealed Friday details wire fraud and money laundering charges against Nan Ma, 27, of Washington City.
Ma — a Chinese citizen with permanent legal residency in the United States — is accused of using his position at a Hurricane business to obtain kickbacks for his personal benefit from Chinese companies.
At the Utah company, Ma was in charge of production and sourcing home audio products.
In exchange for the kickbacks, the indictment alleges Ma awarded lucrative contracts to these companies to manufacture and sell products to his employer, says a statement from the Department of Justice, District of Utah.
Ma used a portion of the kickback money to purchase a luxurious house and expensive cars, the DOJ statement says. Ma concealed the source of the funds he was getting through the alleged kickbacks by making false representations to his employer, according to the indictment.
Ma received approximately $2.1 million in kickbacks in exchange for awarding approximately $12.4 million in contract to the Chinese companies, all of which he concealed from his employer, identified in the indictment by the initials SVT, the indictment alleges.
After Ma purchased a home for approximately $450,000, SVT’s CEO, who knew Ma’s salary, asked Ma how he was going to pay for the home. Ma responded that the money came from his ailing father in China, who was trying to get money out of China to avoid having the Chinese government take it upon his death. The indictment alleges Ma’s explanation about the source of the funds was false.
The indictment charges Ma with three counts of wire fraud and six counts of money laundering. It also seeks the forfeiture of five properties in St. George and one in Washington City, along with two vehicles, the statement says.
According to the indictment, SVT produces home audio products and purchases most of its component parts from suppliers in China. SVT hired Ma, who has a master’s degree in electronic marketing, in May 2011 as vice president of production/sourcing.
Ma’s responsibilities included taking SVT’s engineering drawings, ideas, and designs to Chinese factories and obtaining bids from the factories to manufacture SVT’s component parts, the statement says. His responsibilities also included establishing and maintaining good relationships with Chinese suppliers to ensure SVT obtained quality products and favorable prices, the indictment alleges.
SVT took steps, including paying $18,000 in legal fees, to help secure Ma’s immigration status so he could live and work in the United States as well as travel to China on behalf of the business. The company later raised Ma’s salary so he could qualify for a professional work visa, and later petitioned to have Ma’s immigration status adjusted again so he could be a permanent resident immigrant with the designation of “professional holding an advanced degree.”
Ma was arrested Thursday. He had an initial appearance Friday morning in federal court in St. George. He is detained pending a detention hearing Wednesday in St. George, the statement says.
The potential maximum penalty for each of the three wire fraud counts is 20 years in federal prison. Each of the six money laundering counts has a potential maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
