Tina H. Yi has been sentenced to 12 months of prison, according to a press release issued by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Yi pled guilty to tax evasion charges levied by the DOJ last July. The investigation pored over income earned from her Nome-based business, SJ Investment LLC. Yi was the sole owner and operator of SJ Investment LLC, which did business as Polaris HBL, a hotel, bar, and liquor store in Nome.
In addition to her prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Timothy M. Burgess for the District of Alaska ordered Yi to serve three years of supervised release. The court will determine restitution at a later date.
Court documents and statements reveal that from 2014 to 2018 Yi maintained two sets of financial records for Polaris HBL. One set accurately recorded the business’s income and expenses, while the other understated the income. Yi used the inaccurate records to prepare her tax returns, resulting in false filings for each of those years.
According to a press release issued by the Justice Department’s Tax Division, Yi’s actions caused a total tax loss of over $550,000 to the IRS.
Yi established the business in April 2007 and managed it until October 2017 when a fire destroyed the property. The exact cause of the fire was never released to the public, despite an investigation by the State Fire Marshal’s office and public records requests submitted by KNOM. The fire resulted in the death of Nome resident Bette Ann Haugen.
The investigation was conducted by IRS Criminal Investigation with prosecution led by Trial Attorney John C. Gerardi of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Bradley for the District of Alaska.
