Central Jersey man gets 3 years after $1.5M offshore tax evasion revealed

One of two men involved in a plan to move profits from their legitimate business to two shell companies in China has been sentenced to just over three years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of nearly $1 million.

Michael Q. Fu, 53, of Cranbury, who had pleaded guilty to conspiring to evade income taxes and to one count of tax evasion, was sentenced to 37 months in prison after admitting to failing to report more than $1.5 million in income.

Fu, along with Albert. W. Chang, 69, of Princeton Junction, owned and operated United Products and Instruments Inc. (UNICO), which was based out of Dayton. The company was founded in 1991 and sold and exported microscopes and centrifuges, according to authorities.

In addition to UNICO, Fu and Chang created Action Towers and Bench Laboratories in China. U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said the men would then send the income to the two companies and then counted that money against their taxes as goods sold or commissions.

Fishman said the pair also had Kong Kong based Shanghai Electric overbill UNICO by around 5 percent on legitimate invoices. The bills were then paid through UNICO funds, but then the overpaid amount would be sent by the utility company to the companies in China. Fishman said none of that income was included in the company's federal income tax returns.

After his sentence, Fu will have to serve three years of supervised release and pay restitution in excess of $870,000. Chang also leaded guilty in 2016 and is waiting for his sentence.

Fishman credited agents with IRS-Criminal Investigation, along with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations, as well as officers from the Springfield Police Department with helping with the investigation.