Former Honolulu police officer ordered to pay $11,654 for tax evasion

Retired Honolulu Police Department Lt. Eric Yiu is not going to jail or prison for tax evasion and is even getting the opportunity to keep his criminal record clean.

State Circuit Judge Paul B.K. Wong on Tuesday granted Yiu’s request for a deferral of his guilty pleas to lying on his state income tax returns. Wong set the deferral period for four years, after which he can dismiss the charges if Yiu stays out of trouble.

Wong ordered Yiu, 54, to pay as restitution to the state Department of Taxation the $11,654 he owes in unpaid taxes. He also ordered Yiu to pay $1,165 into a state fund for crime victims and $250 in court fees.

Yiu told Wong he’s sorry for what he did and promised that it won’t happen again. His lawyer presented the state a check Tuesday for the entire amount of the restitution.

Deputy state Attorney General Darrell Wong recommended a probation sentence. He said Yiu lied when he was questioned by investigators.

Yiu was facing up to five years in prison for each of three counts of lying on his income tax returns. He pleaded guilty in March to lying on his 2013, 2014 and 2016 state income tax returns. In exchange, the state agreed to drop three other charges accusing him of lying on his 2011, 2012 and 2015 income tax returns.

The state says Yiu failed to report as income approximately $106,000 over six years. Darrell Wong said the money came from Veterans Administration checks his girlfriend received for her dead husband, and went into a bank account held jointly by Yiu and the girlfriend. Wong said Yiu then transferred the money into his own and his daughter’s bank accounts for personal expenses.

The state charged Yiu with tax evasion in October. Yiu retired from HPD in November, after having been employed by the department for nearly 31 years.