SHARE

Leader of massive Bergen ID theft ring admits guilt

CLIFFVIEW PILOT HAS IT FIRST: Federal authorities secured a guilty plea today by the second-in-command of a Bergen County-based “crime superstore” that stole identities from people in Asia to get credit cards and bank loans that were used to buy fancy cars, fine whiskey and designer shoes.

Photo Credit: Cliffview Pilot

Dozens have also pleaded guilty and have been sentenced or are awaiting sentencing in the case — all of whom could have testified against Hyun-Jin Yang, 29, of Ridgefield.

Instead, Yang admitted her guilt in a hearing before
U.S. Magistrate Judge Patty Shwartz in Newark.

Also pleading guilty today to separate counts was Jung-Hyuck Seo, 39, of Palisades Park.


Yang and Seo
were among dozens of people rousted from their beds early in the morning Sept. 16, 2010 by hundreds of federal and local investigators in Palisades Park, Tenafly, River Edge and elsewhere and brought to FBI headquarters.

Forty-two of those originally charged were directly involved in the massive fraud ring, which bilked banks and other financial establishments by stealing the identities of Asian immigrants who worked in Guam and other American territories, federal authorities said.

One of those charged, Kang Hyok Choi of Long Island, was already in custody — awaiting trial for a triple murder in Tenafly. Detectives from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office alerted the FBI after finding evidence of the ID theft ring on a computer they found in the house.

The scheme was run by Sang-Hyun “Jimmy” Park, of Palisades Park, who pleaded guilty to his role in federal court in March.

Park was so brazen that he advertised in local Korean newspapers that “he and his co-conspirators could obtain driver’s licenses, credit cards, and money for their customers, virtually all of whom were of Korean descent,” according to a 138-page federal arrest complaint.

Colluding merchants, many of them Korean, helped Park’s group obtain cash by swiping credit cards for phantom goods and services, Fishman said. For what was known as a “kkang fee,” the collusive merchants charged the fraudulently obtained credit cards, although no transaction took place.

As soon as the money landed in their bank accounts, the merchants passed the money up to Park, minus the fee.

Park’s group also used the cards to buy expensive merchandise and liquor, and withdrew money from accounts with insufficient funds before anyone noticed, the feds said. They also wrote checks to pay down credit cards and then charged them to the maximum, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said.

In one case, ring members leased Lexuses or Mercedes, made one payment, then sold the cars, the FBI said.

The bills ended up going to people on the other side of the globe who had no idea what happened. The banks, in turn, took the losses.

“The activity in this instance was a virtual crime superstore, with one-stop shopping for a variety of criminal needs,” said FBI Special Agent Michael B. Ward, who heads the bureau’s Newark office. “The criminal activity was sophisticated, and the extent of the fraud committed by this group is believed to be substantial, if not staggering.”

Yang, who was Park’s office manager, admitted that she helped the crew got Social Security cards from various brokers — most with the prefix 586 — issued to Chinese workers in American Samoa, Guam and Saipan. They sold the cards for $5,000 to $7,000 and then helped customers from in and around PalPark get driver’s licenses and other identification cards from various states., Yang said.

Once they secured the IDs, the scam artists got credit cards and bank loans that they used to treat themselves to luxury cars, fine whiskey, designer shoes — and more, one of the defendants, 45-year-old Chun-O Kim, admitted during her guilty plea this summer.

A little finagling helped the group build credit scores to between 700 and 800, authorities said. With those numbers, they were able to open bank accounts and obtain credit cards, lines of credits and loans guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Yang said she paid cash to members of the credit “build up” teams. She and the crew then “busted out” credit cards and used these identities to commit bank fraud — to the tune of $4 million.

The illicit network included people such as Nathan C. Buschman, 33, of Hopatcong, N.J., who admitted in May that he was the manager of an Edgewater branch of Washington Mutual Bank branch (that later became JP Morgan Chase Bank) when he falsified documents that moved the SBA loans through without catching the bank’s attention.

One of the defendants, Yoon-Sang Kim of Allendale, was arrested in Fort Lee while driving a vehicle registered to his wife, authorities said. In the car, police found several counterfeit IDs with Kim’s photograph in other people’s names, some of which were used to open bogus bank accounts.

Authorities won’t say who tipped them off to the breadth of the operation, although some observers would put their money on Choi, who it’s believed struck a deal with local prosecutors for leniency in exchange for inside information about the crew.

Authorities said Choi, of Valley Stream, stole several credit cards from one of the victims, pulled $100,000 from the accounts, then flew to Los Angeles, where he was arrested on May 18, 2008, on a warrant out of Bergen County. Police said he was carrying $88,000 in cash, $14,000 in casino chips, 27 credit cards, two driver’s licenses, and two identification cards — none in his name — when he was arrested.

There’s plenty of praise to go around for bringing such a case — one that not only puts criminals behind bars but recovers a great deal of the money they stole. Fishman cited, among others, special agents from the SBA as well as investigators from the prosecutor’s office and the Englewood Police Department.

Prosecuting the intricate case were Assistant U.S. Attorneys Barbara R. Llanes of the Fishman’s Criminal Division and Anthony Moscato of the Office’s Organized Crime/Gangs Unit in Newark.

MORE (*CLICK ON HEADLINES TO READ)*:

Four more Bergen-based ID theft ‘superstore’ defendants admit guilt

Tuesday, 01 November 2011 16:06 Jerry DeMarco

CLIFFVIEW PILOT HAS IT FIRST: The parade of pleas continued today: A Fort Lee man was one of four people who admitted their roles in a Bergen County-based “crime superstore” that stole identities from people in Asia to get credit cards and bank loans that were used to buy fancy cars, fine whiskey and designer shoes. Dozens have also pleaded guilty and have been sentenced or are awaiting sentencing.

Members of Bergen ID theft ‘superstore’ in federal court

Friday, 21 October 2011 02:01 Jerry DeMarco

BEHIND THE STORY: The final pins continue to fall in the federal probe of a Bergen County-based “crime superstore” that stole identities from people in Asia to get credit cards and bank loans that were used to buy fancy cars, fine whiskey and designer shoes:


Two more ID thieves plead guilty in ‘crime superstore’

Thursday, 13 October 2011 23:24 Jerry DeMarco

CLIFFVIEW PILOT HAS IT FIRST: A former Ridgefield resident today admitted his role in a “crime superstore” that stole identities from people in Asia to get credit cards and bank loans they then used to buy fancy cars, fine whiskey and designer shoes, among other luxuries.

Korean immigrant from Bergen admits role in crime ‘super store’ that stole millions

Thursday, 11 August 2011 17:54 Jerry DeMarco

CLIFFVIEW PILOT HAS IT FIRST: A Korean immigrant living in Edgewater today admitted her connection to a “crime superstore” that stole identities from people in Asia to get credit cards and bank loans they then used to buy fancy cars, fine whiskey and designer shoes, among other luxuries. As part of her plea, she agreed to repay the government $1.23 million.

Men admit roles in Asian ID theft ring that made millions

Monday, 20 June 2011 21:41 Jerry DeMarco

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: Two men admitted their roles in a sophisticated identity theft ring, based in Palisades Park, that made millions of dollars by distributing counterfeit Social Security cards, driver’s licenses and passports for Asian immigrants in exchange for hefty fees.

‘Crime super store’ sold stolen IDs used to defraud banks of millions… and?

Thursday, 16 September 2010 22:53 Jerry DeMarco

EDITORIAL: Federal authorities swept up dozens of Bergen County residents and others early Thursday in connection with a “crime superstore” that sold stolen identities that helped customers open lines of credit and conduct other types of illicit business. The victims? Banks and credit card companies.





SUPPORT Cliffview Pilot:


{loadposition log}



to follow Daily Voice Northern Highlands and receive free news updates.

SCROLL TO NEXT ARTICLE