That zany Abraham Hengyucius! You just never know what he’s gonna do next…or who he really is, for that matter.
Got an e-mail from someone the other day suggesting I visit the website of the Washington court system. Couple of mouse clicks later, there was another Washington Tire Corp. surprise.
Seems Defendants “Washington Tire Corporation and Abraham Hengyucius aka Abe Hengyucius aka Abraham Zhang” was sued for pretending to be something/someone it/he was not. Gee, that’s never happened before, has it?
And this past June, the Superior Court of Washington for Pierce County granted a permanent injunction against the Defendants.
According to court documents obtained by Tire Review, a company named ASPI Group Inc. sued the defendants on March 8, claiming Abe “does business under the name and style Washington State EB-5 Regional Center which is also known as Washington EB-5 Investment Regional Center. Said defendants, and each of them operate a website with global Internet availability at http://www.eb5-wa.us.”
And the head offices for that purported EB-5 Regional Center? Right next door to WTC’s offices at The Fabulich Center in Tacoma.
So what’s the big deal, you ask? Well, under U.S. law an EB-5 Regional Center helps attract overseas investment by allowing large scale investors to earn a green card for their trouble. According to ASPI, only 5,000 of these immigration permits are available annually.
ASPI, though, is the only registered, approved and operating EB-5 Regional Center in Washington. Thus the lawsuit.
Abe never bothered to attend many – or any – of the court proceedings. According to court records, his attorney merely accepted the court summonses and apparently offered no defense. The court eventually granted ASPI request for a permanent injunction, and the Defendants are now enjoined from claiming they are something they are not.
And frankly I’m surprised the Defendants have not been brought up on federal charges for misrepresenting themselves as part of a federal investment program. Maybe that comes later.
In its complaint, ASPI offered some interesting background. See if any of this sounds familiar:
“In August of 2008, the President of plaintiff ASPI Group, Inc., Andy C.F. Chen, received a communication from a person who identified himself as Abraham Zhang, requesting information about possible purchase of property owned by ASPI Group, Inc. in Grant County, Washington. Mr. Chen provided some information to the gentleman.
“In early 2009, plaintiff president Chen, was again contacted by the same individual who again identified himself as Abraham Zhang. On this occasion, he inquired about the status of ASPI's EB-5 Regional Center, specifically asking whether ASPI would be interested in including within its regional center an immigrant investor program that he proposed for Ephrata in Grant County called ‘American Tire.’ The person claimed he was going to build a large tire manufacturing facility and wanted to use the immigrant investor program for financing. ASPI did research on American Tire and then advised that they would not be interested in affiliating ASPI Group, Inc. with Mr. Zhang. During the investigation ASPI discovered a trade name infringement lawsuit against Mr. Zhang’s company for using the name American Tire. Upon further investigation learned that Abraham Zhang had stated he had a ‘Washington facility under construction,’ a false statement. It was also determined that Mr. Zhang has used an alias, Abraham Hengyucius.
“In late 2009, Abraham Zhang contacted ASPI Group, Inc. again, this time stating
that he was involved with the company named ‘Washington Tire.’ ASPI declined involvement. Recently, ASPI obtained a copy of a website publication by Mr. Zhang (Hengyucius) which is attached as Exhibit A to this complaint and is the reason for the filing of this lawsuit. In this publication, Zhang (Hengyucius) described that he owns and controls a ‘Washington EB-5 Regional Center,’ a false statement. United States Customs and Immigration Services has confirmed that there is no approved regional center called ‘Washington EB-5 Regional Center.’ Further, newspaper press releases and Internet publications by Zhang Hengyucius, one of which is attached as Exhibit B, shows the extent of the false statements being made by ‘Washington Tire’ and Zhang (Hengyucius).
“The false statements contained in Exhibit A include the following:
1. That the defendant has been granted status as a Washington State EB-5
Regional Center;
2. That ‘the government has already invested $6 million for infrastructure and
will continue to invest up to $50 million is depleted.’
3. The Washington State government has 1 million shares of common stock and the government has already invested $6 million in matching funds, and more matching funds will follow with the construction of the project with up to $50 million.
4. Washington State will provide free training to select projects for new employees.
5. With every new employee, the project will receive 2,000 - 4,000 incentive from the state government.”
The website mentioned as Exhibit A is a Chinese language site the Defendants allegedly operate. ASPI, in its complaint, offered a translation. The site extols the virtues of the state of Washington, and claims the “Washington EB-5 Regional Center is a LLC that is approved by the U.S. Treasury and the State of Washington,” and that the same also represents a “Alaska EB-5 Regional Center.”
The site further promises a 5% annual return from an investor’s investment in the Washington EB-5 Regional Center.”
“Washington EB-5 Regional Center only invest in high-return, high employment areas with broad market appeals,” the translation said. “Investment starts at $500,000 with no upper limit.”
The site also claims, according to the translation, that the Washington EB-5 Regional Center “already received the state tax benefit of near $500 million dollars,” and that once investment money is received in its bank, the center will “support the documentation for the immigration process” and “recommend an immigration attorney to complete and submit the documents for the investor.”
Let’s recount: the Defendants were accused of creating a non-existent federal program in direct competition with a legally formed EB-5 center – after being rebuffed multiple times by the legit center – in order to skim prospective Chinese investors, who were allegedly promised huge returns and help getting their green cards.
Wild promises and unbelievable statements, they have dotted the Defendants’ stay in the U.S. tire industry. And while we truly appreciate the entertainment value – I mean, you just can’t make this stuff up – perhaps it’s time for the Defendants to pack it in.
I again extend an open invitation to Abraham Hengyucius or Abraham Zhang or Hengyu Zhang or whatever his name really is to sit with me for a full-scale interview. Same offer I made more than a year ago, but here is a pot sweetener: The interview will last as long as Abe wants, and I will publish online every single word. My questions, his answers. Every single word. Verbatim. I’ll even spring for the translator.
Abe?