Press Release
HEDGE FUNDS ADMIT TO $194 MILLION SCAM
July 20, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Division, and Don Saxon, Commissioner, State of Florida's Office of Financial Regulation announced that KL Group LLC, Shoreland Trading, LLC, and KL Triangulum Management, LLC, each admitted their role in running a large hedge fund scam based out of south Florida and California. The corporations admitted their complicity, through the attorney for their court-appointed receiver, in overseeing approximately $195,000,000 in fraudulently obtained proceeds. Specifically, the companies pled guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. Sentencing for the corporations was set for 1:30 p.m. on Friday, November 2, 2007 in West Palm Beach before Senior United States District Judge Kenneth L. Ryskamp.
In addition to the corporate guilty pleas, John Kim, his brother Yung Kim, and Won Lee were previously indicted in December 2006 concerning the hedge fund scam. Yung Kim pled guilty earlier this month to two charges in the Indictment; John Kim is pending trial set for October 29, 2007 before Judge Ryskamp and Won Lee remains a fugitive.
Between 2000 and 2005, nearly $195 million was fraudulently obtained from investors. In early 2005, the Securities and Exchange Commission began legal action to shut down KL's operations. Judge Ryskamp appointed a receiver to oversee the assets of KL shortly thereafter. Since then, the court-appointed receiver assisted federal investigators and prosecutors to unravel KL's complicated web of financial transactions in an effort to recoup money for defrauded investors.
Mr. Acosta commended the investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Florida's Office of Financial Regulation, and the West Palm Beach office of the United States Attorney, Korinne Haper, forensic auditor. These cases are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Stephen Carlton and Andrew Lourie.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Technical comments about this website can be e-mailed to the Webmaster. PLEASE NOTE: The United States Attorney's Office does not respond to non-technical inquiries made to this website. If you wish to make a request for information, you may contact our office at 305-961-9001, or you may send a written inquiry to the United States Attorney's Office, Southern District of Florida, 99 NE 4th Street, Miami, Fl. 33132.