Accountant charged with
federal tax violations
An accountant for a company under investigation for alleged illegal political donations to Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris' campaign has been charged with violating federal tax laws.
In a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court Monday, federal prosecutors alleged that Yiu Wing Wong helped prepare false tax returns for his employer, C.W. Associates Inc., and its affiliated company, Geolabs Inc.
Wong, who serves as a secretary and director at Geolabs and C.W. Associates, is in charge of preparing the Kalihi-based companies' tax forms.
On Aug. 4, 1998, Wong helped arrange C.W. Associates' 1997 corporate tax returns, which underreported its tax liabilities by $4,000, federal prosecutors said.
Wong could not be reached for comment. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Seabright declined to discuss the case.
According to the state Campaign Spending Commission, Wong played a significant role in Geolabs' political fund-raising efforts.
Commission records show that Wong and his family contributed $22,500 to the campaigns of Harris, former Gov. Ben Cayetano and ex-Maui Mayor James "Kimo" Apana.
The donations included a December 1999 contribution to Harris for $2,000 from Wong's daughter, who was a high school student at Maryknoll School at the time.
Wong later told a commission investigator that his daughter was not aware that a contribution was made in her name until it was reported in a Star-Bulletin article.
The Wong's contributions were among a maze of Geolabs-linked contributions totaling more than $124,000 to Harris, Cayetano, Apana, former Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono and ex-Big Island mayoral candidate Fred Holschuh.
In January 2002, the state Campaign Spending Commission fined Geolabs a then-record $64,000 and referred its investigation into Geolabs and the Harris campaign to the city Prosecutor Peter Carlisle for criminal prosecution.
