Criminal Information — United States v. See Wook Chung (Northern District of Georgia)

Summary

Criminal information filed February 12, 2021, in United States v. See Wook Chung, also captioned as Arthur Chung, Case 1:21-cr-00053-JPB, Document 1, in the Northern District of Georgia. Count One charges conspiracy to commit wire fraud, alleged to have run from in or about April 2020 until in or about August 2020, the exact dates unknown. The overt acts list PPP applications that Chung submitted or caused to be submitted, starting on or about April 28, 2020 in the name of Jang & Kim, Inc. and ending on or about August 7, 2020 in the name of HJJ Investment, Inc., each alleged to contain materially false information about number of employees and monthly payroll amount. A forfeiture section follows.

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Case 1:21-cr-00053-JPB Document1 Filed 02/12/21 Page 1lof1

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FILED IN OPEN COURT
U.S.D.C. Atlanta

FEB 12 2021

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
ATLANTA DIVISION

Depyfy Clerk

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

v. Criminal Information

SEE WOOK CHUNG No. 1:21-CR-53
A/K/A ARTHUR CHUNG

THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY CHARGES THAT:

Background
At times relevant to this Criminal Information:

The Small Business Administration

1 The United States Small Business Administration (“SBA”) was an
executive branch agency of the United States government that provided support
to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the SBA was to maintain
and strengthen the nation’s economy by enabling the establishment and viability
of small businesses and by assisting in the economic recovery of communities
after disasters.

2. As part of this effort, the SBA enabled and provided for loans
through banks, credit unions, and other lenders. These loans had government-
backed guarantees.

The Paycheck Protection Program

s The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act

was a federal law enacted in or around March 2020 and was designed to provide
Case 1:21-cr-00053-JPB Document1 Filed 02/12/21 Page 2 of 10

emergency financial assistance to the millions of Americans who are suffering
the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

4, One source of relief that the CARES Act provided for was the
authorization of up to $349 billion in forgivable loans to small businesses for
payroll, mortgage interest, rent/lease, and utilities, through a program referred
to as the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”). In April 2020, Congress
authorized up to $310 billion in additional PPP funding.

5. The PPP allowed qualifying small businesses and other
organizations to receive PPP loans. Businesses must use PPP loan proceeds for
payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent, and utilities. The PPP allowed the
interest and principal on the PPP loan to be entirely forgiven if the business spent
the loan proceeds on these expense items within a designated period of time and
used a certain percentage of the PPP loan proceeds for payroll expenses.

6. The amount of a PPP loan that a small business may have been
entitled to receive was determined by the number of employees employed by the
business and the business’s average monthly payroll costs.

7. Inorder to obtain a PPP loan, a qualifying business was required to
submit a PPP loan application, which was signed by an authorized
representative of the business. The PPP loan application required the business
(through its authorized representative) to acknowledge the program rules and
make certain affirmative certifications in order to be eligible to obtain the PPP
loan. In the PPP loan application, the small business (through its authorized

representative) had to state, among other things, its (a) average monthly payroll

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expenses and (b) number of employees. These figures were used to calculate the
amount of money the small business was eligible to receive under the PPP. In
addition, businesses applying for a PPP loan had to provide documentation
showing their payroll expenses.

8. The SBA oversaw the PPP. However, individual PPP loans were
issued by private, approved lenders who received and processed PPP
applications and supporting documentation, and then made loans using the
lenders’ own funds, which were 100% guaranteed by the SBA. Data from the
application, including information about the borrower, the total amount of the
loan, and the listed number of employees, were transmitted by the lender to the

SBA in the course of processing the loan.

Count One
Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud
(18 U.S.C. § 371)

9. The United States Attorney re-alleges and incorporates by reference
the factual allegations contained in paragraphs 1 through 8 of this Criminal
Information as if fully set forth herein.

10. Beginning in or about April 2020 and continuing until in or about
August 2020, the exact dates unknown, the defendant, SEE WOOK CHUNG, did
knowingly and willfully combine, conspire, confederate, agree, and have a tacit
understanding with another individual known to the United States Attorney to
devise and intend to devise a scheme and artifice to defraud, and to obtain
money and property, by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses,

representations, and promises, and by the omission of material facts, well
Case 1:21-cr-00053-JPB Document1 Filed 02/12/21 Page 4 of 10

knowing and having reason to know that said pretenses, representations, and
promises were and would be false and fraudulent when made and caused to be
made and that said omissions were and would be material, and, in so doing,
with the intent to defraud, caused interstate wire communications to be made in
furtherance of the scheme and artifice to defraud, in violation of Title 18, United
States Code, Section 1343.

Manner and Means

11. It was a part of the scheme and artifice to defraud that the defendant
and another member of the conspiracy conspired to submit PPP applications
containing materially false information to multiple authorized lenders.

12, Throughout the conspiracy, the defendant and the other member of
the conspiracy submitted false PPP applications for a number of entities
controlled by one or more members of the conspiracy and other third parties.
These PPP applications contained materially false information about the
applicant entities’ total number of employees, corporate expenses, and revenue.
As a result of the defendants’ false statements, multiple lenders issued PPP loans
to these various entities.

Overt Acts

13. Inorder to carry out the conspiracy and to accomplish the objects
thereof, the defendant and known and unknown members of the conspiracy
committed various overt acts in the Northern District of Georgia and elsewhere,

including, but not limited to, the following:
Case 1:21-cr-00053-JPB Document1 Filed 02/12/21 Page 5of10

a. On or about April 28, 2020, the defendant submitted or caused to be
submitted a PPP application in the name of Jang & Kim, Inc. (“Jang
& Kim”) containing materially false information, including the
number of employees and monthly payroll amount for Jang & Kim.

b. On or about April 30, 2020, the defendant submitted or caused to be
submitted a PPP application in the name of Jones Loop Marathon,
Inc. (“Jones Loop Marathon”) containing materially false
information, including the number of employees and monthly
payroll amount for Jones Loop Marathon.

c. Onor about April 30, 2020, the defendant submitted or caused to be
submitted a PPP application in the name of SJB Auto Parts
Wholesale, Inc. (“SJB Auto Parts Wholesale”) containing materially
false information, including the number of employees and monthly
payroll amount for SJB Auto Parts Wholesale.

d. On or about April 30, 2020, the defendant submitted or caused to be
submitted a PPP application in the name of Smile Cool Tools HVAC,
Inc. (“Smile Cool Tools HVAC”) containing materially false
information, including the number of employees and monthly
payroll amount for Smile Cool Tools HVAC.

e. On or about May 1, 2020, the defendant submitted or caused to be
submitted a PPP application in the name of Berkeley Import, LLC

(“Berkeley Import”) containing materially false information,
Case 1:21-cr-00053-JPB Document1 Filed 02/12/21 Page 6 of 10

including the number of employees and monthly payroll amount for
Berkeley Import.

f. On or about May 1, 2020, the defendant submitted or caused to be
submitted a PPP application in the name of H Café, Inc. (“H Café”)
containing materially false information, including the number of
employees and monthly payroll amount for H Café.

g. On or about May 1, 2020, the defendant submitted or caused to be
submitted a PPP application in the name of One Dream, Inc. (“One
Dream”) containing materially false information, including the
number of employees and monthly payroll amount for One Dream.

h. On or about May 4, 2020, the defendant submitted or caused to be
submitted a PPP application in the name of KO Wholesale, Inc. (“KO
Wholesale”) containing materially false information, including the
number of employees and monthly payroll amount for KO
Wholesale.

i. On or about May 4, 2020, the defendant submitted or caused to be
submitted a PPP application in the name of Shannon Chao, Inc.
(“Shannon Chao”) containing materially false information, including
the number of employees and monthly payroll amount for Shannon
Chao.

j. On or about May 5, 2020, the defendant submitted or caused to be
submitted a PPP application in the name of Alpha Construction &

Management, Inc. (“Alpha Construction & Management”)

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containing materially false information, including the number of
employees and monthly payroll amount for Alpha Construction &
Management.

k. On or about May 11, 2020, the defendant submitted or caused to be
submitted a PPP application in the name of JKK Artworkible, Inc.
(“JKK Artworkible”) containing materially false information,
including the number of employees and monthly payroll amount for
JKK Artworkible.

1. Onor about May 11, 2020, the defendant submitted or caused to be
submitted a PPP application in the name of North Atlanta
Construction & Enterprise, Inc. (“North Atlanta Construction &
Enterprise”) containing materially false information, including the
number of employees and monthly payroll amount for North
Atlanta Construction & Enterprise.

m. On or about May 16, 2020, the defendant submitted or caused to be
submitted a PPP application in the name of Jiwoo’s Beauty Lounge,
Inc. (“Jiwoo’s Beauty Lounge”) containing materially false
information, including the number of employees and monthly
payroll amount for Jiwoo’s Beauty Lounge.

n. On or about May 17, 2020, the defendant submitted or caused to be
submitted a PPP application in the name of MJ Boom Entertainment
containing materially false information, including the number of

employees and monthly payroll amount for MJ Book Entertainment.
Case 1:21-cr-00053-JPB Document1 Filed 02/12/21 Page 8 of 10

o. On or about May 18, 2020, the defendant submitted or caused to be
submitted a PPP application in the name of AJM Remodeling, Inc.
(“AJM Remodeling”) containing materially false information,
including the number of employees and monthly payroll amount for
MJ Book Entertainment.
p. On or about August 7, 2020, the defendant submitted or caused to be
submitted a PPP application in the name of HJJ Investment, Inc.
(“HJJ Investment”) containing materially false information,
including the number of employees and monthly payroll amount for
HJJ Investment.
All in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371.
Forfeiture
14. Upon conviction for the offense alleged in Count 1 of this Criminal
Information, the defendant shall forfeit to the United States, pursuant to Title 18,
United States Code, Section 981(a)(1)(C) and Title 28, United States Code, Section
2461(c), any property constituting or derived from proceeds obtained directly or
indirectly as a result of said violations.
15. ‘If, as arresult of any act or omission of the defendant, any property
subject to forfeiture:
a. Cannot be located upon the exercise of due diligence;
b. Has been transferred or sold to, or deposited with, a third person;

c. Has been placed beyond the jurisdiction of the Court;

d. Has been substantially diminished in value; or

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4

e. Has been commingled with other property which cannot be subdivided
without difficulty;
The United States intends, pursuant to Title 18, United States Code, Section
982(b) and Title 21, United States Code, Section 853(p), and Title 28, United

States Code, Section 2461(c) to seek forfeiture of any property of said defendant
Case 1:21-cr-00053-JPB Document1 Filed 02/12/21 Page 10 of 10

up to the value of the forfeitable property.

KURT R. ERSKINE
Acting United States Attorney

THOMAS WKREP

Assistant United Ne tes Attorney
Georgia Rar No. 346¥81

Georgia Bar No. 523110

600 U.S. Courthouse

75 Ted Turner Drive SW
Atlanta, GA 30303
404-581-6000; Fax: 404-581-6181

DANIEL S. KAHN
Acting Chief, Fraud Section
U.S. Department of Justice

Trial Attorney, Fraud Section
U.S. Department of Justice
D.C. Bar No, 1011465

1400 New York Ave, NW
Bond Building, 11th Floor
Washington, DC 20005
202-514-2000; Fax: 202-514-3708

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