Central District of California | An identical Twins Who Moonlighted as Golf Tee-Time Brokers Charged with Failing to Report Extra Than $1.1 Million in Income to IRS

LOS ANGELES – Two similar twin brothers and MRI technicians have been arrested on a 10-count federal grand jury indictment charging them with intentionally failing to report back to the IRS greater than $1.1 million in revenue, together with cash they comprised of working a golf tee-time brokering enterprise on the aspect, the Justice Department introduced right now. 

Se Youn “Steve” Kim, 41, of Buena Park, is charged with two counts of tax evasion, one depend of constructing and subscribing to a false tax doc, and two counts of willful failure to pay tax.

Hee Youn “Ted” Kim, 41, of Pomona, is charged with two counts of tax evasion, along with three counts of willful failure to pay tax.

The Kim brothers had been arrested Thursday morning and had been arraigned late Thursday afternoon in United States District Court in Los Angeles. Both defendants pleaded not responsible, and a November 4 trial date was scheduled. A federal Justice of the Peace ordered each defendants launched on $20,000 bond.

According to the indictment that was unsealed Thursday, between 2021 and 2023, the Kim brothers operated a golf tee time brokering enterprise through which they reserved golf tee occasions on-line, together with at public golf programs, and resold them to members of the general public for a price, steadily in violation of municipal rules. The brothers marketed, solicited, and communicated with their clients by means of varied social medial platforms, together with KakaoTalk, an immediate messaging software.

As a part of their enterprise, the brothers reserved 1000’s of tee occasions for resale at quite a few golf programs nationwide, together with a minimum of 17 completely different public programs throughout Southern California. The brothers created a monopoly of Los Angeles and Orange County space golf course tee occasions by securing probably the most sought-after early morning slots, usually inside seconds of their launch to the general public. As a end result, the brothers made it tougher and dearer for members of the general public to order tee occasions at these programs with out paying them an extra reserving price, significantly throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Kim brothers usually directed their golf tee time purchasers to pay these reservation charges to their private accounts, together with Venmo and Zelle accounts, after which transferred these funds into their private financial institution accounts.

In June 2022, Steve Kim integrated Birdie Tour Inc., a Buena Park-based firm, and served as its CEO and chief monetary officer, whereas Ted Kim was its secretary. The brothers obtained an employer identification quantity from the IRS and opened a checking account within the enterprise’s title.

In whole, between 2021 and 2023, the Kim brothers earned practically $700,000 from their tee time brokering enterprise. Despite incomes substantial revenue and owing taxes from this enterprise, and from their job as MRI technicians, the brothers willfully did not report a mixed whole of greater than $1.1 million in revenue to the IRS for tax years 2022 and 2023.

The Kim brothers additionally gathered substantial tax liabilities by failing to pay taxes assessed. Rather than utilizing their accessible funds to repay their excellent tax stability, the Kim brothers spent their cash on a timeshare in Hawaii, luxurious autos, and high-end retail purchases from manufacturers comparable to Chanel, Cartier, Louis Vuitton, and Prada, amongst different issues.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed harmless till confirmed responsible past an inexpensive doubt in a courtroom of regulation.

If convicted, Steve Kim and Ted Kim would face a statutory most sentence of 5 years in federal jail for every tax evasion depend, and as much as one 12 months in jail for every depend of willful failure to pay tax. If convicted, Steve Kim faces a statutory most sentence of three years in federal jail for making and subscribing to a false tax doc.

IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating this matter.

Assistant United States Attorney Solomon Kim of the Major Frauds Section is prosecuting this case.