United States of America v. Sangsoo Kim

San Francisco, California, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with illegal reentry following removal in violation of 8 U.S.C. 1326 and false use of a passport in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1543.

Digested by Kent Morlan

Sangsoo Kim, 56, a national of South Korea, admitted that in 2020, he was convicted of a felony fraud offense and was deported as a result of that conviction. Sometime thereafter, he illegally re-entered the United States. After illegally re-entering the United States, he executed a scheme wherein he used a fraudulent passport to open 72 fraudulent bank accounts at various banks. Beginning no later than November of 2023, Kim executed a check-kiting scheme, where he deposited fraudulent checks into the bank accounts and then quickly withdrew money from the account before the bank became aware the check was fraudulent. Kim admitted he carried out this scheme from at least November of 2023 through at least July of 2025, resulting in a loss amount of $1,195.795.96. As a result of his guilty plea, Kim agreed to forfeit more than $144,000 in cash that was seized in relation to his criminal activity.

The Defendant elected to plead guilty.

Defendant faces a maximum statutory penalty of 30 years and a $1,000,000 fine for his Bank Fraud conviction; 10 years and a fine of $250,00 for each conviction of Illegal Re-Entry and False Use of a Passport; and 30 years and a fine of $250,000 for his Fraudulent Use of One or More Counterfeit Access Devices conviction.