On June 4, 2021, in the Eastern District of New York, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Investigation (CI) Special Agent Bryan Cho pled guilty to aggravated identity theft, and wire fraud. Cho additionally consented to a forfeiture money judgment in the amount of $394,374.63. Cho, who has been employed with IRS-CI since 2008, used information he obtained during the course of his official duties to engage in various unlawful activities.
According to the court documents, in or around 2018, law enforcement agents in South Korea learned that public officials who worked at South Korea's National Intelligence Service and National Tax Service paid Cho bribes in exchange for information Cho obtained through his employment with IRS-CI. In 2018, while Cho was visiting Asia for personal reasons, law enforcement agents from South Korea contacted Cho and sought to question him about his knowledge of and participation in the alleged bribery scheme.
During the course of his employment, Cho worked on an investigation through which he obtained identifying information for an individual described as John Doe. The investigation was eventually closed, but Cho retained items he obtained during the investigation and used John Doe's identifying information to create false identification documents and open a corporate entity overseas in John Doe's name. The fraudulent documents included purported identification cards for the Philippines and the Republic of the Marshall Islands in the name of John Doe, but bearing photos of Cho, and a purported passport in the name of John Doe for the Republic of Guinea-Bissau.
Cho later made false statements during a background investigation, including denying that he possessed any foreign identification documents. Cho also denied any contact with foreign officials, even though law enforcement officials from South Korea had communications with him regarding allegations that South Korean government personnel had paid bribes to Cho in exchange for information about ongoing U.S. criminal investigations.
Cho also submitted multiple false documents in connection with the purchase of a co-op apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York, including forged tax returns and bank statements. These false documents inflated his income and assets to secure the co-op board's approval for the purchase, and funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars from a foreign bank account associated with an entity he created using John Doe's identity to fund the purchase. Cho, deemed a potential flight risk, was remanded to custody.
At sentencing, Cho could receive more than 20 years' imprisonment.
Source: The facts in this case narrative come from the following publicly available documents: E.D.N.Y., Indict., January 22, 2011; E.D.N.Y., Arraignment, January 26, 2021; and E.D.N.Y., Order of Forfeiture, June 9, 2021.