United States v. Hom Ming Dong

Appellant was indicted in 1966 by a federal grand jury on six counts of tax evasion in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7201 . He waived his right to a jury trial and was found guilty by the trial judge on all six counts of the indictment. Sentence of a fine of $1,000 for each count was imposed and this appeal followed. Our jurisdiction rests upon 28 U.S.C. § 1291 .

I. Facts.

Appellant, a United States citizen by virtue of his father’s citizenship, came to this country in 1938. He was inducted into the United States Navy and, during a tour of duty in the Pacific, was married in Hong Kong. Appellant and his wife came to the United States in 1946 and settled in Phoenix in 1947. In 1948, he purchased a grocery facility, which he has operated since that date under the name of Tom’s Grocery Store.

In September, 1964, appellant was contacted by the Internal Revenue Service in Phoenix and asked to make his business records available for inspection. At a meeting with agent Frank Barndt, appellant, who was accompanied by his accountant, produced one small undetailed journal and several bank statements from the year 1962 for which agent Barndt was doing an audit. Although other bank statements…