| IRS Agent
Cho Had Fake Guinea Bissau Passport and
$1.65M Co-op So Gets Detained
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
EDNY COURTHOUSE,
Jan 26 – IRS Special Agent
Bryan Cho, a/k/a "Yong Hee
Cho" is charged with having a
fake foreign passport;
aggravated ID theft; making
false statements in a
background check and wire
fraud in purchasing a co-op.
On January 26 he
was arraigned and detained.
Inner City Press live tweeted,
here (detention memo on
Patreon here)
--
U.S. District
Court for the Eastern District
of New York Magistrate Judge
Cheryl L. Pollak has begun.
The fake passport
was from... Guinea Bissau.
"Count 10
covered identity theft from
Jane Doe." Cho is in the
Marshal's holding area in the
EDNY courthouse.
Cho pleads not
guilty to all counts.
AUSA: The
government is seeking a
permanent order of detention
on the grounds that the
defendant is a significant
risk of flight. AUSA: We don't
have the passport. And Cho
talked with providers of
"golden visas," purchasing
citizenship. [NOTE: UN briber
convicted in SDNY had multiple
passports - the UN never did
an audit, and still won't
answer on #UNFCU and Afrasiabi
Cho's lawyer
argues against detention,
citing COVID in MDC & MCC.
Says, Cho's been aware of this
investigation & didn't
flee. "We think there's a
misunderstanding... These are
not passport." US says IRS
agent Cho bought a co-op
apartment for $1.6 million...
cash.
Cho's
lawyer: It's photos of
passports, not passports. You
can't use them to flee. Cho
was making to show what he
could do, for an undercover
IRS investigation. AUSA: IRS
denies Cho was working on any
undercover investigations.
Cho's
lawyer: The apartment was
bought with money from his
parents, who are in Korea but
legal US residents. They were
going to move in. They were
successful business people in
Korea.
Cho's
lawyer: He would post
apartment worth $1.65 million
to be released. Anyway,
passport fraud is maybe six
months. Total, 2 to 3
years. Judge Pollak: If
an apartment was obtained by
fraud, how can it secure a
bond? And what did the wife
say to the co-op board?
AUSA: The
wife said she was employed,
but was not. They
photo-shopped their IRS 1040
forms, ironic since he works
for the IRS. Neither can be
trusted.
Judge Pollak: I
don't think what's been
offered is sufficient as a
bail package. Come up with
something else.
Cho's lawyer: US
hasn't show apartment was
bought with tainted money.
Judge Pollak: But fraudulent
document were used, allegedly.
Putting up that apartment is
not enough. If there's more,
suretors, come back.
He'll be
detained, but you can come
back.
***
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