True Religion Jeans Subcontractors Underreported $78M in Payroll

Sung Hyun Kim and her sister Caroline Choi, CEOs of sewing companies that were subcontracted by True Religion Brand Jeans were arrested this week along with their CPA, Jae Kim, on 18 felony counts of workers’ compensation insurance fraud totaling more than $11 million in losses. The three allegedly conspired to underreport $78.5 million in payroll to multiple insurers including the State Compensation Insurance Fund and two insurance companies owned by Berkshire Hathaway.

According to California Department of Insurance detectives, sisters Kim and Choi, CEOs of Meriko, Inc. and SF Apparel, Inc., allegedly conspired with their CPA to hide tens of millions in payroll to avoid paying workers’ compensation insurance premiums. Their underground economy conspiracy led to multi-million dollar premium losses for several workers’ compensation insurers including State Fund.

The alleged fraud was committed by fabricating payroll records provided to insurance carrier auditors with the help of CPA Jae Kim. State Fund notified Department of Insurance detectives when they discovered payroll reports submitted to them by the companies showed significantly less total payroll than similar reports submitted to the California Employment Development Department (EDD). Evidence also revealed many employees were paid under the table through a bank account that was never disclosed to EDD or insurance carriers.

If convicted, Sung Hyun Kim faces 28 years in state prison and her bail is set at $700,000; Caroline Choi faces 15 years and her bail is set at $430,000; Jae Kim faces 22 years and his bail is set at $520,000. Syung Hyun Kim and Caroline Choi were booked into the Los Angeles County Jail and Jae Kim was booked into the Men’s Central Jail in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office is prosecuting this case.

Source: California Department of Insurance