본보는 17일 오전 노크로서 경찰로부터 시민의소리 (공동운영자 김종훈 강신범) 이 고발한 이홍기 한인회장의 보험금 수령 은닉 사건에 대해 이홍기씨를 소환 조사 내용을 받았다.
아래는 시민의 알권리를 바탕으로 이루어진 공개 요청에대해 경탈이 보내 온 수사 전문이다.
EXHIBIT LIST:
E-01: Initial Report
E-02: 360 Letters
E-03: First IC Bank Response
E-04: Metro City Bank Response
E-05: Andy Kim Email Attachments
E-06: Andy Kim Google Drive Evidence
E-07: Election Committee Account Photo
E-08: President Simon Lee Interview
NARRATIVE:
On 03/20/2024, at approximately 1100hrs, I responded to take a fraud report which was said to
have occurred at The Korean American Association of Greater Atlanta (KAAG), located at 5900
Brook Hollow Parkway, Norcross GA 30071 (Exhibit 01).
The complainant was identified as Chong Hun Kim, DOB: /1959. He asked that I refer to
him as Andy Kim and said that he is the President of the Korean American Restaurant Association.
We were joined by Michelle Lee (Sandor), who is the Vice President of The Peaceful Unification
Advisory Council-Atlanta Chapter. Also present was Shin Kang. Andy Kim did the bulk of the
speaking. He appeared to be the most interested party and chief complainant.
They explained that there was evidence to suggest the President of KAAG, identified as Simon
Hong Lee, DOB: /1952, had committed theft and insurance fraud through the abuse of his
position. He was first elected on 01/01/2022 and is still the President. As President, he has access Norcross Police Final Investigator’s Report
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to at least seven bank accounts associated with KAAG that no one else has access to. He provides
quarterly income/expense reports associated with these accounts but does not furnish the actual
account transactions themselves.
Andy Kim and Michelle Lee relayed the following during our meeting:
On 12/25/2022, the sprinkler system at KAAG broke. Directly after this incident, Simon Lee met
with Roger Kim, who is the (now resigned) KAAG Building Committee Chairman, along with seven
other members of that board (all now resigned). During this meeting, it was decided that repairs
would be paid for from the building committee fund, rather than making an insurance claim. The
cost ended up being $2000. I asked for documentation of this meeting and the names of all
involved but was not supplied with these items.
On 02/06/2024, a news article was released on knewsatlanta.com titled “Where is the Money”.
The reporter who broke the story was identified as Eugene Lee. In the article, he alleges that
KAAG received an insurance payout from Grange Insurance in the amount of $158,417.32 for the
losses sustained when the sprinklers broke on 12/25/2022. The money went into an account
that only President Simon Lee has access to. The income had not been reflected in the quarterly
reports. This information was discovered because an employee of Grange Insurance knew a
member of KAAG who had access to the quarterly income reports. The Grange employee had
been boasting over how much money they had been able to grant to KAAG, and the KAAG
member realized there was a problem. I have since been provided with screenshots of the
internet article, see file labeled 시민뉴스기사자료-20240422T151445Z-001 Civilian News
Information (Exhibit 06).
I was provided a copy of the Grange Insurance check, which fully documents the payout amount,
including who it was to, and what it was for, see file labeled 보험사기-20240422T151525Z-001
Insurance Fraud (Exhibit 06). The same file contains the Grange insurance documentation which
depicts the claim and how it was made.
I was also provided a portion of the quarterly income/expense reports, which show the money is
not accounted for in President Simon Lee’s statements, see file labeled 이사회재정보고-
20240422T151414Z-001 Financial Information (Exhibit 06).
On 02/08/2024, President Simon Lee held a press conference concerning the matter. He
admitted to receiving the insurance check and depositing it into the account. He also
acknowledged that he failed to report it and has since updated the quarterly reports. He claims
to be using the funds for the benefit of KAAG. He also said that he never made a claim with
Grange Insurance, and that it just showed up in the mail one day for no reason. He said he was
surprised by the check when he first received it, and originally thought it was junk mail. He Norcross Police Final Investigator’s Report
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decided to deposit it anyway. I requested copies of this press release. See file labeled 동영상-
20240422T151447Z-001 Video (Exhibit 06).
Michelle Lee explained that there was another area of concern/potential theft as it pertains to
the quarterly income/expense reports. Every September, KAAG holds a Korean Festival. The
proceeds are then used to finance the next year’s Korean Festival and so on. At the end of each
event, Michelle Lee hands the proceeds over to the KAAG President, along with a receipt. He is
then responsible for placing them into the Metro City Bank account used to exclusively preserve
these proceeds.
Michelle Lee’s name is on the account, so she can see its activity:
On 10/31/2022, there was a balance of $31,480.02 in the account to reflect the 2022 Korean
Festival proceeds.
On 11/25/2022, there was a transfer of $28,480.02 into an unknown account, what was also not
reflected on the quarterly income report.
Michelle Lee said that on 12/02/2023, she delivered to President Simon Lee the 2023 Korean
Festival proceeds in the amount of $32,665. The quarterly income report reflected a flat $4000.
I asked for copies of these receipts and bank statements. See file labeled 코리안페스티발-
20240422T151430Z-001 Korean Festival (Exhibit 06).
I asked what the main account balance should be when President Simon Lee took over as
President on 01/01/2022. I was told that it would be zero because the last President was also
corrupt.
On 03/22/2024, I submitted a 360 subpoena to First IC Bank for access to the transaction history
for the account the Grange Check was deposited into. I also submitted a 360 subpoena to Metro
City Bank for access to the transaction history for the account the Korean Festival funds are
typically submitted into (Exhibit 02).
On 03/26/2024, at approximately 1040hrs, I spoke with the Grange Insurance Adjuster that
paid the claim out to the KAAG. His name is Allen Vander Wilp
. He told me
that he has already spoken with Andy Kim and is aware of the situation. As far as he is
concerned, a legitimate claim was made and paid out. Whether or not the money is used to fix
repairs at the building is not his concern. He said the only way this will impact KAAG is that
they will be unable to file a future claim for the same reported damages. He said this is an
internal issue that must be sorted out by KAAG. He also explained that he had escalated the
incident to the Grange Insurance SIU (Special Investigation Unit), specifically, Investigator Matt Norcross Police Final Investigator’s Report
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Gray. He said he would share my information with Matt Gray, who would call me and clarify
Grange Insurance’s stance on the incident.
I spoke with Matt Gray on the phone, who said he would review the scenario, but that he
agreed with Allen Vander Wilp’s assessment of the situation.
On 03/27/2024, I received all documentation from First IC Bank (Exhibit 03).
The $158,417.32 is deposited on 04/04/2023. The account had a balance of $42,384.98 before
that time. There is a significant amount of activity on the account, mostly in the form of $50 –
$2000 debits and very few credits. There is no way to tell the difference between legitimate
and illegitimate expenses.
The account seems to be nickel and dimed to death until 09/21/2023, when it reaches a
balance of $69,183.01. The next day begins a series of suspicious transactions:
• 09/22/2023 – $50,010.00 check debit
• 09/26/2023 – $50,000.00 check credit
• 09/26/2023 – $50,000.00 check debit
The check is written out from the account into the name of President Simon Lee.
From there, the account dwindles until 12/01/2023, when it reaches a balance of $1,186.37.
On 12/06/2023, it is boosted with a $30,000.00 credit. I cannot tell where that money came
from, but the trend of it dwindling again and being boosted again the next year continues.
It is simply not possible to account for what is happening with this money and how it is all
getting used or tracked.
On 04/15/2024, I received all documentation from Metro City Bank (Exhibit 04).
On 04/05/2024, 04/06/2024, and 04/17/2024, Andy Kim sent me email attachments containing
statements and the KAAG bylaws (Exhibit 05).
On 04/19/2024, Andy Kim provided me with a Google Drive link to many of the aforementioned
items I had needed to investigate this case (Exhibit 06). Almost everything is in Korean. Norcross
Code Enforcement Officer Daniel Yue was able to assist me with creating English labels for the
files so that they could be better understood. Other than that, I have not manipulated the files.
It is too much to break up into individual exhibits without creating too much confusion.
I had Code Enforcement Officer Daniel Yue, a native Korean speaker, review the press releases.
He watched all of them many times over in order to make sense of everything. He said that the Norcross Police Final Investigator’s Report
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press releases weren’t exactly as originally described, but that there were certainly a lot of red
flags. Essentially, President Simon Lee is asked over and over to explain the following issues:
• The discrepancies in his quarterly statements versus the First IC Bank transaction
balances.
• The discrepancies in his Korean Festival statements versus the Metro City Bank
transaction balances.
• The Grange check itself.
The President Simon Lee offers no explanation. He claims to have had no knowledge of the
Grange Check until 12/2023 after it had already been deposited. He claims to have donated at
least $30,000.00 of his own money to keep KAAG afloat. He is asked over and over about where
the Grange funds went, and he does not answer. He is asked about the check he wrote himself
from the account in the amount of $50,000.00, but he has no answer.
On 04/19/2024, I briefed Managing Assistant Gwinnett District Attorney Drew Unger on this
investigation. After hearing me describe the facts and circumstances of this investigation, he said
that he believed there was probable cause to move forward on criminal charges. He afforded
me the opportunity to submit this report as-is for review and indictment. I’ll therefore be sending
him this Final Investigator’s Report and Exhibits once they have been approved.
On 05/01/2024, at approximately 1000hrs, I met with President Simon Lee and his attorney,
Jason Jonghyop Park, in the Norcross Interview Room. I was told that President Simon Lee does
not speak good English, so the conversation was translated by his attorney.
President Simon Lee was quick to explain the glaring $50,000 withdrawal on 09/26/2023. He
explained that the $50,000 was placed directly into an Election Committee Account (First IC Bank
Acct# XXXXXX2861). The account was later closed on 01/31/2024, and the remaining $25,547.87
was transferred back into the main KAAG account. I took a photo of this statement they provided
and can confirm that money did go back into the main KAAG account (Exhibit 07).
I reviewed the transactions in the Election Committee Account and saw that they all seemed very
similar to the types of transactions taking place in the main KAAG account.
I asked President Simon Lee to tell me why he had an insurance claim made if the building
committee had already decided to pay for the damages to the building out of pocket. He
explained that he instructed one of his volunteers to contact Grange so that they could assess
the building, but that he did not know an actual claim was being generated.
He said that his single employee, Minna Kim, arranged for Grange to make the assessment and
that when she received the check, she alerted him to it, and he deposited it. Norcross Police Final Investigator’s Report
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I asked President Simon Lee who was responsible for generating the income/expense reports and
he said that person was Minna Kim. I asked him why the Grange insurance check income was
not reflected in the reports, and he said he did not remember.
President Simon Lee said there are seven accounts associated to KAAG:
• Main Account
• Main Account 2
• Election Account
• Family Center Account
• Korean Festival Account
• Building Maintenance Account
• Fruits of Love Charity Account
President Simon Lee said that he has been depositing approximately $2-3k of his own money into
the KAAG accounts every month since he became President. He estimates he has deposited
approximately $55k of his own money into KAAG since becoming the president.
The interview was audio/video recorded (Exhibit 08).
Investigator’s Conclusion
President Simon Lee went against the building committee and had an insurance claim made on
the building in secret. He received the money and deposited it into the KAAG account. He failed
to mention it to anyone in the organization, and it was kept from being reflected in the regular
expense reports. He never intended to use the money to repair the building. Instead, the money
was used for the regular KAAG day to day operations.
The insurance company (Grange) does not consider this to be insurance fraud and has no interest
in how the insurance payout is used.
Having reviewed the press releases in their entirety, I know that the complainants and other
interested parties have all somehow gained access to the main KAAG account’s complete
transaction history. The only transaction that alarmed them was the $50,000 withdrawal which
took place on 09/26/2023. President Simon Lee was able to explain this transaction.
According to the organization’s bylaws, President Simon Lee has carte blanche over the
organization’s bank accounts, to include the Korean Festival funds. The organization members
can impeach him if they feel he has not been fiduciarily responsible. Also, the bylaws do not
indicate that he is obligated to generate/share expense reports based on KAAG account activities.Norcross Police Final Investigator’s Report
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There is a lot of smoke and red flags, but I see no glaring probable cause to obtain a criminal
arrest warrant for theft by conversion. I do see plenty of evidence that the complainants and
interested parties all have full access to the records, which would allow them to pursue this case
in a civil manner.
This Final Investigator’s Report will be forwarded to the Gwinnett DA’s Office for review, after it
has been reviewed by the Norcross Support Services Captain.
Nothing further.
