U.S. Department of Justice United States Attorney Northern District of California
11th Floor, Federal Building 450 Golden Gate Avenue, Box 36055 San Francisco, California  94102 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	Tel: (415) 436-7200 Fax: (415) 436-7234

May 14, 2002 The United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California announced that two defendants associated with Twin Technology, Inc., a San Jose corporation in the business of assembling printed circuit boards for computer manufacturers, pled guilty today in US District Court in San Jose on tax charges. Yong Ho Ko, a/k/a James Ko, 43, and Jungah Choi, a/k/a Joanne Choi, 36, both of San Jose, were indicted by a federal grand jury in a 17-count indictment on April 11, 2001.  Each pled guilty today to filing false federal income tax returns, in violation of Title 26 US Code Section 7206(1).  In his plea agreement, James Ko admitted to receiving $792,161.64 in 1994 and $456,979.75 in 1995 and intentionally failing to report this income on his individual federal income tax returns.  Ms. Choi admitted to receiving $150,223.65 in 1994 and $89,423.95 in 1995 and intentionally failing to report this income. According to the indictment and plea agreements, during 1994 and 1995, James Ko was the President of Twin Technology, Inc, a San Jose corporation which assembled printed circuit boards for computer manufacturers.  Jungah Choi was a company sales representative.  During those years, James Ko received a total of $1,186,981.89 from National Smelting and Refining Co., Inc. ("NSR") for DRAM chips.   Ms. Choi received a total $239,647.60 during the same period.  The defendants each failed to report this additional income on their federal income tax returns.     Each count in violation of 26 U.S.C. Section 7206(1) is punishable by three years imprisonment and a fine of $100,000.  Each defendant has agreed to pay restitution to the government in the amount of the tax loss to the United States.  If the Court accepts the plea agreements, James Ko will be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 12 to 15 months and will be required to pay restitution to the United States of $484,308.73, while Ms. Jungah Choi has agreed that she will be sentenced to a term of 10 months and will pay restitution of $85,928.30. Sentencing for the defendants is scheduled for August 13, 2002, at 9:00 a.m., in federal court in San Jose,  before the Honorable Jeremy Fogel, United States District Court  Judge.  A third defendant charged in the indictment, Yong Uk Ko, a/k/a Paul Ko, is scheduled to appear again before Judge Fogel on May 21, 2002, either to plead guilty or set a trial date.  The prosecution is the result of an approximately two-year  investigation by special  Agents of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division and Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Assistant United States Attorney David Callaway is prosecuting the case with the assistance of legal technician Tracey Anderson.  A copy of this press release may also be found on the U.S. Attorney's Office website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can. All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney's Office should be directed to Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew J. Jacobs at (415) 436-7181 or Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth De la Vega in San Jose at (408) 525-5032.