COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Powell man was sentenced to five years in prison for embezzling more than $26 million from his employer in Columbus.
Yi He, 36, will have to pay restitution to his former employer, to the IRS and forfeit his Tesla as part of the sentencing, according to U.S. Attorney Kenneth Parker.
Court documents say He was a longtime employee of a furniture company that provides furniture to retailers like Wayfair, Overstock, Kohl's, Walmart and Ashley. He was responsible for payroll and payroll tax-related duties for the company.
From 2018 to 2022, He embezzled money from the company's bank account into his own personal and financial investment accounts. He submitted false and fraudulent bank and financial statements to the company's leadership to remain undetected.
He also helped oversee an employee incentive LLC that rewarded company employees with 10 or more years of service. He 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.
He also failed to accurately report his income to the IRS from 2018 to 2021, causing a total tax loss of about $6.8 million.
He pleaded guilty to committing wire fraud and filing a false tax return in 2023.
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