On June 25, 2018, U.S. District Court Judge Brinkema in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia sentenced Hyong Kwon Kim, a citizen of South Korea and, since 1998, a legal permanent resident of the United States, resided in Massachusetts and later in Connecticut, to serve a sentence of six-months imprisonment for failing to report accounts in Switzerland with a value exceeding $28 million. The sentence took into account Kim’s cooperation with the government, which occurred for more than a five-year span.
Kim conspired with a host of foreign enablers, including Dr. Edgar H. Paltzer, his Swiss attorney who pleaded guilty in 2013 in the Southern District of New York, and bankers to conceal his assets and income in Swiss accounts held in his own name, the name of a relative, and in the names of sham corporate entities.
In 2008, as Credit Suisse closed accounts held in the names of sham entities owned by persons residing in the United States, Kim refused to bring his assets to the United States. Instead, he transferred his assets to another Swiss bank. Kim send coded messages from the United States to his Swiss banker in order to maintain control of his account. Undoubtedly, Kim’s conduct to continue to try to hide his assets was an exacerbating fact.
The Department of Justice announced the sentence in a press release.
The IELR will discuss the case in more detail in the February issue.
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