A Coralville attorney was sentenced to federal prison on Wednesday after he plead guilty to charges relating to business he conducted on behalf of clients.
Soo Hyun Jung, also known as Jay Jung, 46, of Coralville, was sentenced to 38 months in prison on two charges of mail fraud and one charge of making false claims to a government agency. He also must pay $618,021 in restitution to twelve victims, and three years of supervised release after serving his jail term.
In 2014, Jung was hired by a client to handle their tax returns. He filed the documents and requested a refund. In July 2015, he contacted the Internal Revenue Service to see where the returns were, but also changed the address on file for the client to the address of his business in Coralville. Following that, Jung filed more returns in the client's name without consent in August 2015, containing inaccurate information that led to more refunds.
By October 2015, Jung received multiple refund checks at a total of $202,179. He forged endorsements on the checks, then deposited the funds into his personal bank account. In November 2015, he spent $83,200 of it on a 2014 BMW M6 Gran Coupe.
The following year on behalf of another client, in May 2016, Jung caused an investment fund to be liquidated and he received a $200,000 check to his Coralville office. Similarly, he deposited the funds into his personal account, and then withdrew $115,000.
The case was prosecuted by United States attorneys from the Office for the Southern District of Iowa.