On January 14, Foster Dai, a dual citizen of China and the United States, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Alabama. The charges against him include filing false tax returns and failing to report foreign bank accounts.
The indictment, which was unsealed this week, was issued on September 10, 2024. Acting United States Attorney Kevin Davidson, along with Special Agent in Charge Demetrius Hardeman from the IRS Criminal Investigation Atlanta Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Paul Brown from the FBI Mobile, Alabama Field Office, made the announcement.
Dai, 60, previously lived in Auburn, Alabama, where he worked as a professor in the Electrical Engineering Department at Auburn University. According to the indictment, Dai held a corporate executive position at Shenzhen NRT, Co., Ltd., a company based in the People’s Republic of China. The indictment alleges that Dai received payments from at least five entities in China through his accounts with China Merchants Bank and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China. However, he allegedly did not report this income on his federal tax returns for the years 2018 through 2020.
The indictment not only emphasizes the tax violations but also brings attention to the obligation of U.S. citizens and residents to report foreign bank accounts exceeding $10,000 in value at any time during the year. This report, known as the “Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts” (FBAR), must be filed with the U.S. Treasury. According to the indictment, Dai allegedly failed to submit the required FBAR reports for two foreign accounts: one with Industrial & Commercial Bank of China in 2018 and another with China Merchants Bank in 2020.
It is crucial to remember that an indictment merely accuses someone of committing a crime, and Dai is considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
If Dai is found guilty, he could be sentenced to a maximum of five years in prison and fined up to $250,000. The severity of the sentence will be determined by a federal district court judge, who will take into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other legal factors.