| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 13, 2007 WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/CAN |
SAN FRANCISCO - United States Attorney Scott N. Schools announced that Christina Kyeonghee Kim was sentenced yesterday to 54 months imprisonment in connection with an identity theft scheme that spanned nearly 7 years and defrauded victims of more than $1.1 million. The sentencing followed the defendant's guilty plea, entered in March 2007, to 47 counts of bank fraud and 1 count of mail fraud.
The prosecution is the result of a lengthy investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Eureka, California. The investigation revealed that from at least October 1998 to May 2005, Kim, 43, of McKinleyville, California, orchestrated an identity theft scheme. During the scheme, Kim owned a restaurant in Arcata, California and acted as an informal “mentor” to Korean foreign exchange students attending Humboldt State University. Kim used her position of trust as an employer and mentor to steal the personal identifying information of her family members, employees, and young foreign exchange students attending Humboldt State University. In total, Kim used the stolen information to open at least 50 separate accounts, including credit card and bank accounts, in the name of real and fictitious individuals by forging signatures on bank and credit card applications, forging signatures on checks and forging signatures on other documents submitted to obtain lines of credit. Once opened, Kim obtained large amounts of money from a number of financial institutions that she never repaid. In addition to the identity theft scheme, Kim also engaged in an insurance fraud scheme and forged documents to obtain a mortgage loan in an effort to build herself a second home. As a result, Kim caused at least $1.1 million in financial losses to the individual victims and various financial institutions. Kim used the money to buy herself luxury items such as designer clothes, shoes, and jewelry.
Stacey Luck, Trial Attorney, Fraud Section, Criminal Division, Department of Justice prosecuted this case. Stacey Geis, Assistant United States Attorney, Northern District of California, assisted on the case.
Further Information:
Case # CR 06-00233 WHA
A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can.
Electronic court filings and further procedural and docket information are available at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
Judges’ calendars with schedules for upcoming court hearings can be viewed on the court’s website at www.cand.uscourts.gov.
All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney’s Office should be directed to Joshua Eaton at (415) 436-6958 or by email at Josh.Eaton@usdoj.gov.