PUYALLUP MAN INDICTED FOR BANK FRAUD, BANKRUPTCY FRAUD, MONEY LAUNDERING AND EVASION OF TAXES
Defendant Owned and Operated Dump Truck Hauling Company and Rock, Dirt and Gravel Company
HENRY JAMES HOLST, 40, of Puyallup, Washington was arrested today on an indictment returned last week by a federal grand jury in Seattle, Washington. The indictment charges HOLST with five counts of Bank Fraud, two counts of Bankruptcy Fraud, two counts of Money Laundering and one count of Tax Evasion. HOLST operated Holst Enterprises Inc. – a dump truck hauling company – and Rock N Block, a company selling solid rock, gravel, dirt and block. HOLST made his initial appearance on the charges in U.S. District Court in Tacoma this afternoon.
According to the indictment, HOLST obtained a $750,000 Small Business Administration guaranteed loan from Viking Bank by making false statements on the loan application. The indictment alleges that HOLST evaded repayment of the loan and sold assets that were to secure the loan while living a lavish lifestyle. HOLST is alleged to have destroyed records, and continued to lie to the Small Business Administration, Viking Bank, the IRS and Bankruptcy Trustee and creditors.
The indictment alleges that HOLST failed to tell Viking Bank loan officers that he owed more than $200,000 in back taxes to the IRS – past due payroll taxes collected from HOLST Enterprises employees. HOLST also allegedly inflated the value of his assets and income on the loan application. Later he sold assets that had been used to secure the bank loan without informing the bank or Small Business Administration. HOLST is charged with Bankruptcy Fraud in connection with various cashiers checks that he failed to list as assets as part of his bankruptcy – the checks totaled more than $115,000. HOLST is charged with money laundering in connection with his attempts to cash the checks. HOLST is charged with tax evasion for failing to pay $138,000 in payroll taxes in 2000, 2001, and 2002. The indictment alleges he lied to the IRS about assets available to pay those taxes and put the assets in the names of others to avoid detection by the IRS.
The indictment seeks the forfeiture of Puyallup properties owned by HOLST as well as investment accounts.
An indictment contains allegations that have not been proven at trial beyond a reasonable doubt. Trial in this matter is scheduled for February 12, 2007.
The case was investigated by the Small Business Administration (SBA), the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI), and by the FBI.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys David Reese Jennings and Kurt P. Herrmans.
For additional information please contact Emily Langlie, Public Affairs Officer for the United States Attorney’s Office at (206) 553-4110 or Dan Wardlaw, Public Information officer for the IRS-CI at (360) 696-7647 (ext 3).
