Business owner arrested, charged in $9 million San Francisco investment fund fraud
A federal grand jury in San Francisco has indicted a business owner for defrauding investors and a bank to the tune of over $9 million, the U.S. Department of Justice said Monday.
Joon Woo Kim, 57, of the City of Montebello in Los Angeles County, was arrested Monday in New Haven and appeared in U.S. District Court in Connecticut to face the charges.
Kim allegedly induced investors to contribute to a fund he created in San Francisco called the M5 Doctors Fund by making false statements and omissions about the kinds of investments he would make while managing the fund's assets, prosecutors said.
For example, Kim is accused of advertising that he would invest assets from the M5 Doctors Fund in securities for Tesla, Inc. and other electric vehicle companies. Instead, he allegedly transferred nearly all the funds into a wholesale food company owned by he and his wife.
Specifically, the indictment alleges that from June 2015 through at least March 2022, Kim transferred $4.8 million of these investments into his company. Additionally, prosecutors said Kim misled fund investors that the fund was solvent and still engaging in investment activities.
A second fraud scheme alleged by the government involves Kim defrauding Hanmi Bank by applying for a $3.2 million business loan and a $1.3 million line of credit with fraudulent promises and representations.
Kim was charged with eight counts of wire fraud, two counts of bank fraud and one count of making a false statement to a bank.
Kim has an initial court appearance in San Francisco federal court scheduled for July 28, 2023.