New Jersey Bank Fraud Ringleader Sentenced To 12 Years In Federal Prison

Jacob Kim, 53, of Palisades Park, New Jersey, was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for his role in a major bank fraud scheme that involved 16 other individuals and as much as $20 million in fraudulent transactions. Kim was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $10,485,114. In July, he plead guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Kim was originally indicted in June 2007, along with four other employees of his company, American Macro Growth ("AMG") and 8 clients of the company. Since 2005, when he learned of the FBI investigation, Kim remained a fugitive until he was arrested on May 5th after an intensive man-hunt. In his plea, Kim admitted that he engaged in a conspiracy with the other indicted AMG employees and clients to fraudulently obtain millions of dollars in home equity and business lines of credit from a variety of financial institutions, as well as commissions on certain transactions. Many of the other co-conspirators are due to be sentenced on January 7, 2009.

Read the story here, here and here.

Read the DOJ press releases here and here.