D.C. CPA Yohanness Ayechew Gets 14 Months for Tax Fraud

Yohanness Ayechew, 49, of Washington, D.C., is headed to federal prison for 14 months after admitting to a brazen tax fraud scheme that cost the U.S. government more than $250,000. The Certified Public Accountant deliberately falsified hundreds of tax returns over four years, inflating deductions and inventing exemptions to boost client refunds.

Ayechew, who operated Endalk and Yohannes Associated, L.P. with business partner Endalkachew Asfaw in D.C. since 2011, pleaded guilty in August 2021 to aiding and assisting in the filing of false tax returns. From 2016 through 2019, the firm prepared around 10,000 returns. But between 2014 and 2017, Ayechew systematically manipulated client filings by overstating unreimbursed employee business expenses on Schedule A, including false claims for uniforms and mileage.

Court records show Ayechew went further—fabricating entire Schedule C expenses and claiming dependents his clients had no right to deduct. The goal: generate bigger refunds by any means necessary. He admitted to knowingly submitting falsified documents that triggered a tax loss exceeding $250,000 to the Internal Revenue Service.

Judge John D. Bates, presiding in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, handed down the 14-month sentence and ordered Ayechew to pay full restitution to the IRS along with a $10,000 fine. The sentence reflects the seriousness of a crime committed not by an amateur, but by a licensed accountant entrusted with financial integrity.

His partner, Endalkachew Asfaw, 38, of Alexandria, Va., also pleaded guilty in August 2021. Asfaw avoided prison but was sentenced to three years of probation, including one year of home detention, and must also pay restitution to the IRS. The dual convictions expose a pattern of misconduct at the firm over multiple tax seasons.

U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Darrell J. Waldon, Special Agent in Charge of IRS-Criminal Investigation’s Washington Field Office, hailed the outcome as a win for accountability. They credited investigators from IRS-CI and U.S. Attorney’s Office staff, including Paralegal Specialist Mariela Andrade and Assistant U.S. Attorney Leslie A. Goemaat, who prosecuted the case.