Epoch Public Foundation

Overview

The Epoch Public Foundation (EIN 68-0650661) is a U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit that describes itself as the fundraising arm for The Epoch Times and New Tang Dynasty media operations (Epoch Public Foundation). Its treasurer and director was Weidong “Bill” Guan — indicted in June 2024, pleading guilty in July 2026 in a $67 million money-laundering case — and its 2021–2022 tax filings drew an IRS complaint alleging major reporting inconsistencies (Accountable.US; U.S. Department of Justice).

The foundation is a related tax-exempt organization of The Epoch Times Association, Inc. (EIN 22-3848589) — a relationship both organizations disclose on Form 990, Schedule R (Accountable.US). Per the latest publicly available information cited in the complaint, John Zhong Tang was the foundation’s president and the association’s CEO; Guan was the foundation’s treasurer and director and the association’s chief financial officer (Accountable.US). NPR independently confirmed Guan as treasurer and return signatory and Tang as listed president (NPR).

What the foundation says it does

The foundation’s website states that it was “established with the aim to uplift and inform society by publishing quality content that embodies integrity, dignity, and the best of humanity,” and that its “main activities are supporting the production and promotion of the Epoch Times and New Tang Dynasty (NTD)” (Epoch Public Foundation). Its Form 990 states the mission in nearly identical terms: “to help media to uplift and inform society by publishing quality content that embodies integrity, dignity, and the best of humanity” (Accountable.US). The site says the foundation relies on The Epoch Times and NTD’s “cross-media platform communication advantages” and volunteer teams to aggregate resources “to serve society by delivering the truth” (Epoch Public Foundation). No independent source reviewed here verifies what programs, if any, the foundation operated beyond this stated purpose, or documents its post-2022 filings and activities.

The 2021–2022 tax filings and the IRS complaint

On June 13, 2024, Accountable.US president Caroline Ciccone signed a complaint to the IRS TEGE Referrals Group asking it to investigate the Epoch Public Foundation and The Epoch Times Association for “potentially false or fraudulent information” on their Forms 990, and requesting the maximum monetary penalty if the organizations failed to provide complete and accurate information (Accountable.US). The complaint’s unadjudicated allegations center on mismatches between what the association reported giving and what the foundation reported receiving:

Form 990 disclosure	Fiscal year 2021	Fiscal year 2022
Cash grant reported by The Epoch Times Association to the foundation	$4,678,292 (general support)	$11,062,919
Related-organization revenue reported by the foundation	None (section left blank)	None reported
Contributions from non-related sources reported by the foundation	$11,992,297	$3,638,266
Schedule B (major-donor schedule) filed by the foundation	No	No
End-of-year cash reported by the foundation	~$21 million	Not cited in the complaint
Liabilities the foundation reported owing to related organizations	$20,586,627 (to the association and NTD)	Not cited in the complaint

The complaint’s allegations from its citations of the filed Forms 990; NPR independently re-examined the same filings and corroborated the core figures (Accountable.US; NPR).

The complaint further alleged the foundation ended fiscal 2021 with $20,991,555 in assets — all non-interest-bearing cash — against only $11,992,297 in revenue, while reporting an $11,590,700 liability owed to the association and no related-organization transactions (Accountable.US). It argued Schedule B was apparently required both years: the association’s contributions exceeded both the $5,000 general threshold and the special-rule threshold (the greater of $5,000 or 2% of total contributions) (Accountable.US).

NPR’s own review of the three organizations’ returns (the foundation, the association, and Universal Communications Network) corroborated the pattern: in 2021 the foundation reported close to $21 million in cash at year-end, up from less than $410,000 at the start, while owing $20.5 million to the other two; in 2022 those two reported grants to the foundation totaling more than $12 million while it reported less than $3.7 million in contributions and no related-organization grants (NPR). Tax-law academics consulted by NPR were unsparing. Brian Mittendorf of Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business called the returns “a hot mess,” saying “the financial statements are not consistent”; former federal prosecutor Brian Galle of Georgetown University Law Center called them “fishy” and “at least a yellow flag”; Philip Hackney of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law called the $20.5 million in 2021 liabilities “baffling,” adding, “If you have one organization that’s related to another saying that it gave a certain amount and it’s not appearing in the other return, that does look odd and is quite questionable” (NPR).

NPR also found the foundation’s website told donors to mail checks to a New Jersey residence associated with Guan, and described Accountable.US as “a progressive nonprofit watchdog organization that monitors financial flows of right-wing organizations” — executive director Tony Carrk said his team had examined the returns before Guan’s charges became public, and the group filed the complaint hoping to trigger a civil investigation (NPR).

The criminal case against its treasurer

On June 3, 2024, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York unsealed an indictment charging Weidong Guan, a/k/a “Bill Guan,” with conspiring to commit money laundering and bank fraud (U.S. Department of Justice). Prosecutors alleged that from at least 2020 through May 2024, Guan — then CFO of a New York-headquartered multinational media company — conspired to launder at least approximately $67 million of illegally obtained funds into accounts of the media company and related entities (U.S. Department of Justice). The complaint notes that Guan — treasurer and director of the foundation, signatory on both organizations’ 2022 returns and the foundation’s 2021 return, with no paid preparer reported — appears to have prepared those returns himself (Accountable.US).

A November 18, 2024 superseding indictment charged Le Van Hung, who worked in a foreign office of the media company, with conspiring to commit money laundering, bank fraud, and identity theft; prosecutors said he managed co-conspirators, including the “Make Money Online” team, and used stolen U.S. residents’ IDs to open accounts used to launder fraud proceeds (U.S. Department of Justice). Hung pleaded guilty on June 26, 2026, to conspiracy to commit identity theft (sentencing October 9, 2026); Guan pleaded guilty on July 9, 2026, to conspiracy to engage in transactions involving criminal proceeds (sentencing December 4, 2026), before Judge Victor Marrero (Case No. 24 Cr. 322 (VM)) (U.S. Department of Justice).

When charged in June 2024, Guan pleaded not guilty and was suspended; The Epoch Times said it intended to fully cooperate with the federal investigation, and founder and CEO John Zhong Tang resigned on June 7, 2024 (NPR). The U.S. Attorney’s Office stated the charges do not relate to the media company’s newsgathering activities (NPR).

FAQ

What is the Epoch Public Foundation? A U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN 68-0650661) describing itself as the fundraising arm for The Epoch Times and New Tang Dynasty media operations (Epoch Public Foundation), and a related tax-exempt organization of The Epoch Times Association, Inc. — a relationship disclosed on both organizations’ Forms 990 (Accountable.US).

What did Accountable.US allege in its June 2024 IRS complaint? The watchdog alleged apparent inconsistencies in the two organizations’ 2021 and 2022 Forms 990 — chiefly that the association reported giving the foundation $4,678,292 and then $11,062,919 in grants the foundation never reported receiving, and that it skipped Schedule B despite contributions far above filing thresholds (Accountable.US). These are allegations, not findings.

What was Weidong Guan’s role at the foundation? Guan was the foundation’s treasurer and director while also serving as CFO of The Epoch Times Association, and he signed both organizations’ 2022 tax returns and the foundation’s 2021 return — with no paid preparer reported, he appears to have prepared them himself (Accountable.US; NPR). He later pleaded guilty in the federal money-laundering case (U.S. Department of Justice).

Did the IRS investigate the complaint? No public reporting says whether the IRS opened an investigation or took any action on the June 13, 2024 complaint. NPR reported at the time that The Epoch Times did not respond to its questions about the tax returns, and neither did Guan’s attorney (NPR).

What happened in the criminal case? Guan pleaded guilty on July 9, 2026, to conspiracy to engage in transactions involving criminal proceeds (sentencing set for December 4, 2026); co-defendant Le Van Hung pleaded guilty on June 26, 2026, to conspiracy to commit identity theft (sentencing set for October 9, 2026) (U.S. Department of Justice).

What this profile does not claim

This profile presents Accountable.US’s IRS complaint as allegations, never as established fact — the table figures are what the complaint says the Forms 990 show, corroborated only by NPR’s independent re-examination of the same filings. It does not state whether the IRS acted on the complaint, what programs the foundation operated, or anything about its status or filings after FY2022 — no fully-read source documents those. It flags the complaint’s internal date-range discrepancy (2020/2021 versus FY2021/2022) without resolving it, and asserts no sentencing outcomes.