Business
Watchdog group files IRS complaint against Epoch Times Network
The government watchdog organization Accountable.US filed an IRS complaint against the Epoch Public Foundation and the Epoch Times Assn., the nonprofit groups affiliated with the right wing media outlet the Epoch Times.
The complaint, sent to the IRS last week, requests an investigation into “potentially false or fraudulent information” made on the nonprofit’s tax returns for the fiscal years 2021 and 2022.
Earlier this month, Weidong “Bill” Guan, the chief financial officer of the Epoch Times, was arrested and charged in what federal prosecutors called a “sprawling, transnational scheme” to launder at least $67 million in illicit funds.
Guan used cryptocurrency to purchase tens of millions of dollars in crime proceeds, including prepaid debit cards, fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance benefits and stolen personal information that was used to spike the Epoch Times’ reported annual revenue, according to the indictment, handed down last month.
The scheme began in 2020, when the Epoch Times’ “Make Money Online” team led by Guan purchased “crime proceeds” and transferred them to accounts associated with the media company, the indictment stated. Federal prosecutors alleged that the funds increased company’s revenue 410% in a single year to $62 million.
Guan deposited $16.7 million of the proceeds into his personal accounts, according to the Justice Department, but did not report this income on his tax filings.
A grand jury indicted Guan with one count of money laundering and two counts of bank fraud.
Following his arrest, the Epoch Times released a statement on its website saying that it has suspended Guan “until this matter is resolved,” adding that, the “company intends to and will fully cooperate with any investigation dealing with the allegations against Mr. Guan.
Accountable is a progressive nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that monitors the financial transactions of right wing groups. Its complaint cites “several apparent inconsistencies and reporting errors” in the Epoch Public Foundation and the Epoch Times Assn.’s tax filings.
“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 … was allegedly engaged in a money laundering scheme related to his business ventures, according to federal prosecutors,” states their letter to the IRS.
A representative of Epoch Times could not be immediately reached for comment.
The Epoch Times was founded in 2000 by Chinese Americans affiliated with the Falun Gong spiritual movement that is banned in China. Headquartered in New York, the newspaper began as a small, free giveaway focused on criticizing the Chinese Communist Party.
The media outlet has since become a forceful presence among conservative news organizations, known for spreading conspiracy theories, particularly on social media, and as a staunch supporter of former President Trump and his allies.
Business
Visa, Google, JetBlue: A Guide to a New Era of Antitrust Action
President Biden’s top antitrust enforcers have promised to sue monopolies and block big mergers — a cornerstone of the administration’s economic agenda to restore competition to the economy.
Below are 15 major cases brought by the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission since late 2020 (including cases against Google and Meta initially filed during the Trump administration just before Mr. Biden took office).
The government has won several but not all the cases. And with only a few months remaining for the current administration, the number of suits is climbing, as regulators go after dominant companies in tech, pharmaceuticals, finance and even groceries.
Business
Video: The U.S. Is Mining for Uranium
new video loaded: The U.S. Is Mining for Uranium
September 23, 2024
Miners at Pinyon Plain uranium mine, Arizona.
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Business
Video: Federal Reserve Cuts Interest Rates for the First Time in Four Years
new video loaded: Federal Reserve Cuts Interest Rates for the First Time in Four Years
transcript
transcript
Federal Reserve Cuts Interest Rates for the First Time in Four Years
Jerome H. Powell, the Fed chair, said that the central bank would take future interest rate cuts “meeting by meeting” after lowering rates by a half percentage point, an unusually large move.
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Today, the Federal Open Market Committee decided to reduce the degree of policy restraint by lowering our policy interest rate by a half percentage point. Our patient approach over the past year has paid dividends. Inflation is now much closer to our objective, and we have gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2 percent. We’re going to take it meeting by meeting. As I mentioned, there’s no sense that the committee feels it’s in a rush to do this. We made a good, strong start to this, and that’s really, frankly, a sign of our confidence — confidence that inflation is coming down.
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