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ST. GEORGE — A Washington, Washington County, man was sentenced to federal prison after he admitted during a federal court hearing on Tuesday that he stole millions of dollars in kickbacks from a local business.
Nan Ma, 39, a Chinese citizen with legal permanent residency in the U.S., appeared in U.S. District Court in St. George on Tuesday for sentencing on one count of failure to file international monetary instrument transactions – a federal money laundering offense that is a felony.
U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby presided over the hearing and was the first to speak during the hearing, as he went over the special joint agreement signed by the parties that included a sentencing range. Shelby explained that in most cases, the plea agreements are honored since the parties are in a better position to determine the factors of the case, adding it appeared to be a balanced plea agreement with a broad sentencing range.
Even so, he made it clear he was not bound by any agreement in this case.
The judge sentenced the defendant to serve 33 months in federal prison, and once released, he will be placed on post-prison supervision for three years. He also ordered that Ma disclose his conviction to any future employers and prohibited Ma from opening any lines of credit or starting a new business once he is released and while on parole.
Shelby also ordered Ma to pay $3.4 million in restitution – $2.5 to SVT (the company from which Ma stole), and $777,000 to the IRS in back taxes for the money he took from the company and never reported as income. The judge also stipulated that SVT be paid first, and once that debt is satisfied, then the IRS would be paid.
Read the full article at St. George News.
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