Former Bookkeeper For Korean Cultural And Freedom Foundation Sentenced To 24 Months For Tax Crimes

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Sookyeong Kim Sebold, aka Sophia Kim, 52, a former resident of McLean, Va., was sentenced to 24 months in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $133,548 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service for embezzling more than $800,000 from the Korean Cultural and Freedom Foundation (KCFF) and failing to report the income on her tax returns.

Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Tax Division Kathryn Keneally; and Thomas J. Kelly, Special Agent in Charge of the IRS – Criminal Investigation’s Washington, D.C., Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by United States District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema.

Sebold was convicted on Dec.14, 2012, of filing a false 2005 tax return and tax evasion for the year 2005. 

Sebold worked for the KCFF, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting cultural exchange through the sponsorship of the Universal Ballet Company (UBC) and other performing art events.  UBC was founded by the Unification Church International (UCI) and Reverend Sun Myung Moon, and KCFF was funded primarily by UCI.  

The evidence at trial proved that in 2005, Sebold embezzled more than $400,000 from KCFF’s bank accounts for her own benefit and used these funds for day trading, gambling and other personal expenses.  She did not report these funds on her 2005 individual income tax return, resulting in her failure to pay more than $130,000 in taxes.  In addition, the evidence at trial established that Sebold had also embezzled funds from KCFF in 2002, 2003, and 2004, for a total of more than $800,000 in unreported income.

This case was investigated by IRS – Criminal Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Mark Lytle and Tax Division Trial Attorney Caryn Finley prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.

More information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/tax.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae.  Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on https://pcl.uscourts.gov.