Feds say Utah business exec got $2M in illegal kickbacks from Chinese companies

The federal courthouse in Salt Lake City is pictured on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2020. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY — A southern Utah man allegedly obtained more than $2 million in kickbacks for illegally awarding lucrative contracts to Chinese companies to make and sell products to his employer, federal authorities say.

An indictment unsealed in U.S. District Court on Friday charges Nan Ma, of Washington, Washington County, with using his position at a home audio products company in Hurricane to get payments from Chinese companies. Ma is a Chinese citizen with legal permanent resident status in the United States. He was arrested Thursday.

Ma, 37, used the kickbacks to buy a luxurious house and expensive cars, according to the charges. Prosecutors say he hid the source of the money by lying to his employer, identified in the indictment as SVT.

Ma awarded $12.4 million in contracts to Chinese companies and received $2.1 million in exchange, court documents say.

After Ma bought a house for $450,000, SVT’s CEO — who knew Ma’s salary — asked him how he was going to pay for the home. Ma falsely claimed that the money came from his ailing father in China, who was trying to get money out of country to avoid having the Chinese government take it upon his death, according to the indictment.

SVT produces home audio products and buys most of its component parts from suppliers in China. The company hired Ma, who has a master’s degree in electronic marketing, in 2011 as vice president of production and sourcing.

SVT helped secure Ma’s immigration status, including paying $18,000 in legal fees, so he could live and work in the U.S. as well as travel to China on behalf of the business, according to prosecutors.

The company later raised his salary so he could qualify for a professional work visa, and later petitioned to have his immigration status adjusted again so he could be a permanent resident immigrant with the designation of “professional holding an advanced degree.”

Ma’s responsibilities included taking SVT’s engineering drawings, ideas and designs to Chinese factories and obtaining bids to make audio components. His responsibilities also included maintaining good relationships with Chinese suppliers to ensure SVT obtained quality products and favorable prices, the indictment alleges.

Prosecutors say Ma provided personal bank account information to suppliers so they could pay him after they received payments for products from SVT. After receiving funds from the suppliers, Ma transferred the money among various accounts, banks and investment companies, according to the indictment.

As an officer at SVT assigned to establish and maintain relationships with suppliers, Ma owed a fiduciary duty to SVT, the indictment says.

Ma faces three counts of wire fraud and six counts of money laundering. The indictment also seeks the forfeiture of five properties in St. George and one in Washington along with two vehicles.

Ma is being held in jail pending a detention hearing next week in St. George.

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