San Francisco, California - A federal grand jury issued a new indictment Monday against Henry Lo, the former Chief Financial Officer of San Francisco-based Absolutely New, Inc., announced United States Attorney Melinda Haag and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge David J. Johnson. The indictment alleges Lo committed numerous acts of fraud even as he was being prosecuted for other crimes.
Lo, 51, of San Francisco, pleaded guilty on November 20, 2014, to two counts of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud. He was sentenced on April 9, 2015, to 70 months in prison. Yesterday’s indictment alleges both before and after he was charged and pleaded guilty in 2014, Lo committed additional crimes. Specifically, Lo allegedly committed bank fraud by altering and misappropriating checks of Character SF, LLC, a company for which he was serving as a contract CFO. Further, according to the indictment, Lo committed aggravated identity theft by forging the signature of one of the owners of Character, and money laundering by engaging in transactions of more than $10,000 of funds that he had stolen from Character.
Lo also violated an order of federal Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley who had directed Lo not to dispose of real property, according to the indictment. This order was issued by Judge Corley in a federal civil case. The order notwithstanding, Lo allegedly transferred real property, consisting of his $3.1 million home in San Francisco, to his wife so that she could own it as her sole property in her own name.
In sum, Lo was charged with two counts of contempt of court, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 401(3); eight counts of bank fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1344(2); one count of aggravated identity theft, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1028(a)(1); and two counts of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from unlawful activity, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1957.
Lo already is in custody as a result of the charges for which he pleaded guilty in 2014. If convicted on these additional charges, there is no maximum prescribed prison term, fine or term of supervised release for contempt of court. The maximum penalty for each count of bank fraud is 30 years’ imprisonment, $1,000,000 (or twice the gross gain or loss), and five years’ supervised release. The maximum penalty for aggravated identity theft is a two year mandatory minimum consecutive imprisonment, a $250,000 fine (or twice the gross gain or loss), and a year of supervised release. The maximum penalty for money laundering is 10 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine (or twice the amount of criminal derived property from the transaction), and three years of supervised release. Lo may be subject to additional fines, assessments, and restitution. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court only after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentience, 18 U.S.C. s 3553.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Waldinger is prosecution the case with the assistance of Jessica Meegan, Mary Mallory, and Allen Williams. The prosecution is a result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
