The new Accountable.US complaint requests that the IRS open an investigation to determine whether the Epoch Public Foundation (EPF) and the Epoch Times Association (ETA) have filed false annual information returns for fiscal years 2021 and 2022.
The complaint states: “The discrepancies and apparent reporting errors in EPF’s and ETA’s Form 990s for fiscal years 2021 and 2022 are cause for concern as they occurred while Weidong “Bill” Guan — who serves as treasurer and director for EPF and chief financial officer for ETA and who is listed as the signatory for both organizations’ returns in 2022 and EPF’s return in 2021 — was allegedly engaged in a money laundering scheme related to his business ventures, according to federal prosecutors. A recent indictment filed in the Southern District of New York alleged that beginning in 2020, Guan operated a multimillion-dollar money laundering scheme involving a media company and its related entities. Neither ETA nor EPF reported using a paid preparer for their returns, so in addition to signing the returns to vouch for their accuracy, it appears that Mr. Guan may have also been responsible for preparing each of these returns for the years when he is listed as the signatory.”
Read the full complaint here.
Earlier this year, Accountable.US research contributed to an IRS complaint against the Conservative Partnership Institute for a shady for-profit/non-profit arrangement seemingly allowing CPI to bypass typical nonprofit regulations to engage in political activity and service primarily Republicans.
Learn more about other groups making up the far-right dark money network at Accountable.US’s MonitoringInfluence.org.
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