Coralville Attorney Sentenced to Federal Prison on Mail Fraud and False Claims Charges

DAVENPORT, IA-- On December 19, 2018, Soo Hyun Jung, also known as Jay Jung, age 46, from Coralville, was sentenced to 38 months in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of Mail Fraud and one count of False Claims to a Government Agency, announced United States Attorney Marc Krickbaum. Jung was ordered to serve three years of supervised release, pay a $300 special assessment to the Crime Victims’ Fund, and pay $618,021 in restitution to twelve victims.

From 2014-2016, Jung represented clients as an attorney and tax preparer. Jung admitted in 2014, he agreed to represent a client to prepare tax returns. Jung filed tax returns and requested refunds. In July 2015, Jung contacted IRS to check on the status of these returns. During this contact, Jung updated the client’s home address on file with the IRS to Jung’s business address in Coralville. In August 2015, Jung filed additional tax returns without the consent of the client. These additional returns contained information that was not accurate and requested refunds. These returns included a 2013 return submitted to the United States Department of Treasury on August 22, 2015, that falsely claimed a refund of $15,252. As a result, in October 2015, three United States Treasury refund checks totaling $202,179 were received by Jung. Jung forged an endorsement on these checks and, in a series of transfers, caused these funds to be deposited into his personal bank account. Jung used $83,200 of these funds in November 2015 to purchase a 2014 BMW M6 Gran Coupe. In May 2016, in relation to a different client, Jung caused an investment fund to be cashed out and a $200,000 check mailed to Jung in Coralville, Iowa. Jung later caused these funds to be deposited into his personal bank account and withdrew $115,000.

This matter was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division. This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.