Stole IDs To Get Credit, Luxury Cars
A grand jury has returned two indictments charging seven individuals with being members of two organized fraud rings operating in Flushing and Bayside over the past two years.
Six of the defendants are in custody and were arraigned last week in Queens County Supreme Court. A seventh defendant remains at large, according to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown.
“The indictments are the result of a 24-month investigation that included months of court-authorized wiretaps, video and physical surveillance and thousands of intercepted telephone calls, many of which required translation from Chinese and Korean to English,” Brown said last Thursday, May 22, in announcing the indictments with Police Commissioner Bill Bratton.
“These six individuals allegedly profited through utilizing information of actual victims and sometimes even fictitious identities,” Bratton added. “Thanks to the hard work of the investigators and prosecutors involved, these individuals will no longer be able to exploit information for their own personal gain.”
Brown identified the suspects as Joung Duck Woo (a.k.a. Mr. O), 45, of 69th Avenue in Fresh Meadows; Ki Hun Kim (a.k.a. Hulk), 45, of Horace Harding Expressway in Bayside; Sang Moon (a.k.a. Steve), 59, of 147th Street in Flushing; Kin Bin Lim, 52, of 69th Avenue in Fresh Meadows (who remains at large); Jinuk Chong (a.k.a. Jeff), 24, of 192nd Street in Fresh Meadows; Kyeong Joon Kim (a.k.a. Mr. Kim), 53, of 38th Avenue in Flushing; and Dong Soo Kim, 60, of 41st Avenue in Flushing.
They were all variously charged with second-, third- and fourthdegree grand larceny; first-degree falsifying business records; firstdegree identity theft; criminal possession of stolen property; second-degree forgery and scheme to defraud. If convicted, they each face maximum sentences of between seven and 15 years behind bars.
According to the charges in one indictment, Joung Woo worked as an automobile broker in which he assisted customers to legitimately purchase vehicles from car dealerships in exchange for what is known as a “bird dog fee” (a commission on the sale from the dealership).
In order for a customer to purchase a vehicle Woo requested that they provide him with identifying information, such as copies of social security cards, passports and driver’s licenses.
Later, it is alleged that Woo used the stolen personal identifying information of four customers-who he knew through his church-to purchase seven high-end automobiles and to open credit card and other accounts.
It is additionally alleged that Kim Ki Hun worked with Woo in arranging for the purchase of the vehicles with the stolen identities and that Sang Hun Moon, on occasion, presented himself at car dealerships and bought vehicles using the stolen identities provided by Woo. Since March 2013, the defendants are alleged to have purchased seven vehicles-including a Mercedes Benz E350, a 2013 BMW 535, a 2014 Infiniti Q50, a 2013 Lexus, a 2012 Volkswagen Touareg and two 2012 Audi A6s-financed for a total of $391,404.71 in the names of their victims.
Among the alleged victims were the four individuals whose identities were stolen and five auto dealerships-Biener Audi Group, Rallye Motors, Hassel BMW, Bayside Volkswagen and Competition Infiniti.
It is further alleged that Woo used the personal identifying information of his automobile clients to open at least two Capital One accounts and a Discover credit card account.
The alleged total losses on these accounts were approximately $24,250.
The second indictment alleges that Jinuk Chong, Kyeong Joon Kim and Dong Soo Kim engaged in a scheme to defraud banks and department stores between Aug. 8, 2012, and Apr. 24 of this year. It is alleged that Kyeong Joon Kim provided personal identifying information to Dong Soo Kim, who maintained a document mill in Flushing for his use in the manufacturing of fraudulent documents-including telephone and cable bills-to establish fictitious identities.
Kyeong Joon Kim and Jinuk Chong then used these false identities, usually including social security numbers beginning with the prefix “586,” to open bank and department store credit accounts online and in person, which were then used to make purchases and cash withdrawals. They then allegedly maintained the accounts by paying off the balances in small intervals over a period of time in order to build up the credibility and credit rating of the cards and the fictitious cardholders.
In carrying out their scheme, it is alleged that the defendants also “springboarded” the accounts by adding additional authorized users to the credit card accounts-again, using false identities-in order to establish credit in those names which, in turn, enabled the defendants to apply for additional cards with greater credit ratings and limits before “busting out” the cards- draining the available line of credit on each card-and abandoning the accounts without making any further payments.
Among the ring’s alleged victims were Bethpage Federal Credit Union, TD Bank and Nordstrom.
As part of the investigation, Brown stated, court-authorized search warrants were executed last week at six Queens locations. Among the items allegedly recovered as a result of the search warrants were numerous forged Korean passports and forged United States visas, as well material needed to create forged documents, such as stamps, laminates, paper and seals.
As a result, the defendant Dong Soo Kim has been additionally charged with third-degree grand larceny, second-degree forgery, second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument and criminal possession of forgery devices.
In executing a search warrant at Dong S. Kim’s 41st Avenue residence last Wednesday, May 21, as noted in the criminal complaint, police recovered six Republic of Korea passports which had been variously altered. For example in one instance, it is alleged that the photograph was cut out of the passport’s biographical page and the signature had been erased on the signature page.
In addition to the passports, police allegedly recovered 13 stamps that appeared to be immigration and custom stamps bearing seals from the Republic of Korea; three school seals; approximately 200 sheets of watermarked blank paper bearing the letterhead of different universities; a cutter; a blacklight; a large commercial printer; 23 altered “Form I-797,” which is used by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to communicate with applicants regarding immigration benefits or status changes; and a Discover credit card bearing the name “Woon Hak Lee,” which had been revoked earlier in the month.
Discover allegedly suffered a loss of approximately $4,600 on the card.
The investigation was conducted by lead case Det. Enrico Morriello and assistant lead case Det. Edwin Romero of the NYPD Identity Theft Squad, under the supervision of Lt. Ruperto V. Aguilar and the command of Capt. Kenneth Gray of the Financial Crimes Task Force, and the overall supervision of Inspector Kevin Harrington, commander of the Grand Larceny Division, and Chief of Detectives Robert K. Boyce.
Brown expressed his appreciation to the United States Postal Inspection Services, specifically, Postal Inspectors Vincent Minecci (team leader), Glen W. McKechnie and Maria Albright, under the supervision of Assistant Inspector-in-Charge Richard Vignogna and the overall supervision of New York Division Inspector-in-Charge Philip R. Bartlett; Det. Sgt. Joseph A. Falgiano, of the District Attorney’s Detective Bureau and who is presently assigned to the multiagency El Dorado Task Force, under the supervision of Supervisory Special Agent Theodore Psahos, Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge Jody Foresta, Deputy Special Agentin Charge Glenn Sorge and James T. Hayes, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations in New York; Special Agent Neisha Samaroo, Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge Anthony Piazza and Special Agent-in-Charge Edward J. Ryan, of the United States Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General; and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division for their cooperation and assistance in the investigation.
Assistant District Attorneys Eleonora B. Rivkin and Gloria Pellegrino, of the Economic Crimes Bureau, are prosecuting the case under the supervision of Gregory C. Pavlides, bureau chief, and Christina Hanophy, deputy bureau chief, and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Peter A. Crusco and Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorney Linda M. Cantoni.
It was noted that an indictment and a criminal complaint are merely accusations and that a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
