{"id":17290,"date":"2015-11-12T10:48:52","date_gmt":"2015-11-12T18:48:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=17290"},"modified":"2015-11-12T10:48:52","modified_gmt":"2015-11-12T18:48:52","slug":"attorney-admits-stealing-8-million-in-investment-capital-from-clients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=17290","title":{"rendered":"Attorney Admits Stealing $8 Million in Investment Capital from Clients"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES<\/strong> \u2013 <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"u.s.DISTRICT<\/a>An attorney who prosecutors believe stole at least $8 million in investment capital from his clients and used the money for personal expenses and luxury items plead guilty today to wire fraud and tax evasion charges, official said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stephen Young Kang,<\/strong> 46, of Newport Beach, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge George Wu to two counts of wire fraud and one count of tax evasion.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kang faces up to 45 years in federal prison when he is sentenced in February.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, Mr. Kang put his personal financial interest above those of his clients who entrusted him to act on their behalf. By virtue of his profession and the trust afforded to him, his actions are all the more egregious.\u201d said\u00a0David L. Bowdich, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Kang’s plea agreement filed last week in federal court.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the agreement, Kang admits that beginning as early as October 2012, and continuing through in or about at least September 2015, in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, and elsewhere, intended to defraud his clients.<\/span><\/p>\n

He admitted in court today that he defrauded a food distribution company, Ottogi America, Inc., that hired the attorney to help the company purchase properties near its distribution center in Gardena.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ottogi wire transferred funds to a trust account in Houston, Texas, to be used for the purchase of the properties. \u00a0But Kang admitted that he did not use the money to invest in properties, according to authorities.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rather, officials said Kang admitted that he caused the funds to be transferred to other accounts that he controlled. <\/span><\/p>\n

Prosecutors believe that Kang then used a substantial portion of Ottogi\u2019s money to pay for personal expenses and business ventures, as well as to make partial payment to other victims, officials said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kang also admitted that he defrauded a Texas victim out of $500,000 in 2013 by falsely representing that he would invest the $500,000 in a company called Pegasus Capital Ltd., LLC. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

When the victim demanded repayment, officials indicated that Kang agreed in September 2015 \u2013 which was after he was initially indicted in this fraud case \u2013 to provide the victim with a \u201cfirst priority security interest\u201d in a term life insurance policy. <\/span><\/p>\n

Kang, however, failed to disclose to the victim that the life insurance was worth only $250,000, that Kang\u2019s wife was the sole beneficiary of the policy, and that the policy was first applied for and approved on Aug. 28, \u00a0according to officials.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prosecutors believe that Kang offered, and in some cases provided, the same life insurance policy to other victims.<\/span><\/p>\n

In relation to the tax evasion count, officials said Kang admitted that he received at least $1,516,000 in income in 2013, but failed to pay a federal income tax return for calendar year 2013 and using corporate accounts to conceal the income he received, officials said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cProfessionals, including attorneys, who create elaborate schemes that have no purpose other than to mislead others and defraud the IRS run the very high risk of prosecution,\u201d said Special Agent in Charge Erick Martinez of IRS Criminal Investigation<\/strong>. \u201cThese individuals face severe consequences including imprisonment and substantial fines.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The case was investigated by the FBI and IRS.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES \u2013 An attorney who prosecutors believe stole at least $8 million in investment capital from his clients and used the money for personal expenses and luxury items plead guilty today…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1073,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,3],"tags":[1080,473,1904],"class_list":["post-17290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home-main-slider","category-u-s-department-of-justice","tag-attorney","tag-fraud","tag-investment-capital"],"yoast_head":"\nAttorney Steals $8 Million in Investment Capital<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An attorney who prosecutors believe stole at least $8 million in investment capital from clients pleads guilty.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=17290\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Attorney Steals $8 Million in Investment Capital\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An attorney who prosecutors believe stole at least $8 million in investment capital from clients pleads guilty.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=17290\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Justice Notebook\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanJusticeNotebook\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-11-12T18:48:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/criminal_justice_jurisprudence-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"299\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"188\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Raul\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Raul\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=17290#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=17290\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Raul\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0\"},\"headline\":\"Attorney Admits Stealing $8 Million in Investment Capital from Clients\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-11-12T18:48:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=17290\"},\"wordCount\":534,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=17290#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/02\\\/criminal_justice_jurisprudence-2.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Attorney\",\"Fraud\",\"Investment Capital\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Home Main Slider\",\"U.S. Department of Justice\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=17290#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=17290\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=17290\",\"name\":\"Attorney Steals $8 Million in Investment Capital\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=17290#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=17290#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/02\\\/criminal_justice_jurisprudence-2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-11-12T18:48:52+00:00\",\"description\":\"An attorney who prosecutors believe stole at least $8 million in investment capital from clients pleads guilty.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=17290\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=17290#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/02\\\/criminal_justice_jurisprudence-2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/02\\\/criminal_justice_jurisprudence-2.jpg\",\"width\":299,\"height\":188},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"American Justice Notebook\",\"description\":\""Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost." \u2014 Thomas Jefferson\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"American Justice Notebook\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/07\\\/Justice-Scales.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/07\\\/Justice-Scales.jpg\",\"width\":675,\"height\":231,\"caption\":\"American Justice Notebook\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/AmericanJusticeNotebook\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0\",\"name\":\"Raul\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Raul\"},\"description\":\"Raul Hernandez is a former journalist. He has worked as a newspaper reporter for more than 30 years at the El Paso Herald-Post, El Paso Times, Press Enterprise in Riverside, California and the Ventura County Star in California. He was a court reporter for more than 20 years.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Attorney Steals $8 Million in Investment Capital","description":"An attorney who prosecutors believe stole at least $8 million in investment capital from clients pleads guilty.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=17290","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Attorney Steals $8 Million in Investment Capital","og_description":"An attorney who prosecutors believe stole at least $8 million in investment capital from clients pleads guilty.","og_url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=17290","og_site_name":"American Justice Notebook","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanJusticeNotebook","article_published_time":"2015-11-12T18:48:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":299,"height":188,"url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/criminal_justice_jurisprudence-2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Raul","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Raul","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=17290#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=17290"},"author":{"name":"Raul","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0"},"headline":"Attorney Admits Stealing $8 Million in Investment Capital from Clients","datePublished":"2015-11-12T18:48:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=17290"},"wordCount":534,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=17290#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/criminal_justice_jurisprudence-2.jpg","keywords":["Attorney","Fraud","Investment Capital"],"articleSection":["Home Main Slider","U.S. Department of Justice"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=17290#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=17290","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=17290","name":"Attorney Steals $8 Million in Investment Capital","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=17290#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=17290#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/criminal_justice_jurisprudence-2.jpg","datePublished":"2015-11-12T18:48:52+00:00","description":"An attorney who prosecutors believe stole at least $8 million in investment capital from clients pleads guilty.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=17290"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=17290#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/criminal_justice_jurisprudence-2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/criminal_justice_jurisprudence-2.jpg","width":299,"height":188},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/","name":"American Justice Notebook","description":""Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost." \u2014 Thomas Jefferson","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#organization","name":"American Justice Notebook","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Justice-Scales.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Justice-Scales.jpg","width":675,"height":231,"caption":"American Justice Notebook"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanJusticeNotebook"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0","name":"Raul","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g","caption":"Raul"},"description":"Raul Hernandez is a former journalist. He has worked as a newspaper reporter for more than 30 years at the El Paso Herald-Post, El Paso Times, Press Enterprise in Riverside, California and the Ventura County Star in California. He was a court reporter for more than 20 years.","sameAs":["https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17290"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17290\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17300,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17290\/revisions\/17300"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}