Ex-aide of Macau billionaire Ng Lap Seng, jailed by US in fallout from UN bribery scandal, blames ‘traditional’ Chinese upbringing
Jeff Yin, sentenced to seven months’ prison for tax evasion, says it never occurred to him to question the illicit activities of his former boss
An American man, who worked for a billionaire real estate developer from Macau convicted of bribing United Nations officials, was sentenced by a US judge to seven months in prison on Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to tax evasion.
Jeff Yin, 32, who partly blamed his woes on his traditional Chinese upbringing, was sentenced by US District Judge Vernon Broderick in Manhattan. His lawyer, Sabrina Shroff, said she planned to submit a court filing arguing that Yin should be allowed to serve his sentence in a halfway house, which the judge said he would consider. Yin was charged alongside his former boss, Ng Lap Seng, who was found guilty in July of bribing UN officials to win their support for a conference centre he hoped to build in Macau.
As part of his plea deal, Yin agreed not to appeal a prison sentence of less than two and a half years.
“I didn’t pay my taxes and I’m truly sorry,” Yin said before being sentenced.
Federal prosecutors had argued for a sentence of at least two years. Assistant US Attorney Daniel Richenthal said in court on Wednesday that Yin had helped Ng carry out his bribery scheme, and that Broderick should consider that even though Yin did not plead guilty to bribery charges.