Garden Grove police today arrested a Korea Times advertising representative for allegedly having businesses write checks in his name that were deposited into his personal account–to the tune of more than $140,000 over the past two years.
Bong Soo Kim, 52, was booked into Orange County Jail on suspicion of grand theft and embezzlement.
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Publishers discovered the thefts in 2010 and began an investigation with the Garden Grove Police Department.
Kim, who has worked as an advertising agent with the newspaper for 20 years, in 2009 began having his clients make checks out to him, according to police.
A search warrant served at Kim's Fullerton residence today uncovered bank records and tax statement related to the case, police say.
The department claims Kim confessed to the crime and stated that his wife's business was in financial trouble and he was trying to keep it afloat.
No stolen money has been recovered.
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.