Former Diamond Bar Accountant Gets Probation For Visa Fraud Scam

DIAMOND BAR, CA — A former Diamond Bar accountant was sentenced to three years of probation Thursday for his role in a visa fraud scam involving South Korean nationals.

Young Shin Kim, 63, will also have to complete 100 hours of community service as part of his probation, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement. His sentencing comes after he entered a guilty plea two years ago to one count of conspiracy to commit visa fraud.

Kim was charged in 2019 for running a scam that involving faked Alien Worker Petitions that claimed businesses in the United States were hiring skilled foreign workers.

A co-defendant, a 52-year-old Wen Keuk Lee, was also charged in the scam. Lee was a licensed immigration attorney in California but has since fled to Vietnam, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Kim misappropriated information of his accountant firm’s clients and created shell companies to make it appear that legitimate businesses were looking for workers, court documents said.

South Korean applicants would pay Kim and Lee between $30,000 and $70,000 in the hopes of securing a vista through the scam. The pair filed 117 petitions from 2007 to 2015, which resulted in more than 125 visas being issued to workers, their spouses and their children, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

City News Service contributed to this report.