Nail salon owner pleads guilty to federal charges

Staff reports

Updated 9:13 p.m., Wednesday, August 29, 2012


A 57-year-old Old Greenwich nail salon owner pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Hartford to structuring financial transactions and employing an undocumented immigrant, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney David Fein.

Jae Hee Yang, 57, of Englewood, N.J., formerly known as Jae Hee Yang Kim, will face a maximum prison term of 5 1/2 years when she is sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in November. She also faces a fine of up to $250,000.

Yang, the owner of Tip Top Nails Inc., 1 Havemeyer Lane, structured currency transactions to evade reporting requirements, according to the release by Thomas Carson, a spokesman for Fein's office.

According to federal law, all financial institutions are required to file a Currency Transaction Report for transactions exceeding $10,000. Structuring involves the repeated depositing or withdrawal of amounts of cash less than $10,000, or the splitting of a cash transaction that exceeds $10,000 into smaller amounts to avoid the reporting requirements. It is a violation of federal criminal law to structure transactions even if the deposited funds are derived from legitimate means.

From May to September 2009, Yang made 15 cash withdrawals in increments from $4,000 to $8,000, totaling $100,000 from a New Jersey bank where she maintained a business checking account, according to court documents. The money was generated from the Tip Top Nails business, federal authorities said. According to court documents, Yang knew the currency transaction reporting requirements, and by conducting her transactions in amounts less than $10,001, she was trying to evade those requirements.

Federal authorities also found that Yang employed a person at Tip Top Nails who was an illegal immigrant and not permitted to work in the U.S. While pleading guilty, Yang admitted the nail salon employed other illegal immigrants. She said she paid them in cash, instead of a check, and drove them to Greenwich from New York every day in a van.

When reached by phone Wednesday evening, a woman at the salon said Yang was not available but acknowledged that she still works there.

Lt. Kraig Gray, spokesman for the Greenwich Police Department, said there are no Greenwich charges pending in the case.
In addition to a possible prison term and fine, Yang has agreed to forfeit the $100,000 she structured.

The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service criminal investigation division and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter S. Jongbloed.