Man charged with defrauding couple of nearly $500K
Suspect currently in federal prison on wire fraud conviction
(Tribune illustration)
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As Peter In Cho waited to report to federal prison on a wire fraud conviction, he was defrauding a Northbrook couple of nearly a half-million dollars, according to an indictment filed in U.S. District Court last week.
Prosecutors said Cho, 44, formerly of Arlington Heights, defrauded the couple of about $470,000 after they responded to his ad in a local Korean-language newspaper seeking real estate investors. Cho has been charged with mail fraud, according to the latest indictment.
First indicted in 2004, Cho is currently in federal prison in Duluth, Minn., where he was sent after pleading guilty in 2007 to 16 counts of wire fraud, according to federal records. Cho, who was sentenced to 65 months, is scheduled to be released in November, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website.
Cho pleaded guilty, records show, to a plot by a group of executives and traders at a now-defunct Chicago brokerage firm to fabricate and make unauthorized trades, losing $7.3 million in clients' money.
In the most recent case, prosecutors allege that Cho took out an ad touting investment opportunities on foreclosed real estate in April 2008 — a month after he was sentenced but before February 2009, when he was ordered to report to prison.
The charging documents say the couple, who are Korean-Americans with no real estate investment experience, gave Cho a $5,000 check to start searching for properties in August 2008. Weeks later, they gave Cho more money, in the form of three cashier's checks of $10,000 apiece, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors say Cho then proposed a real estate venture called Build 12 LLC and asked the couple to pay $550,000 to become partners in September 2008. They signed an agreement that claimed the company, which court records called a "fictitious entity", would manage $38 million in real estate, according to prosecutors.
The charging documents say Cho managed to gain control of money the couple put into trading accounts, using it for his own trades in October 2008.
Court records show that although the couple's trading account had a $7,369 deficit, Cho told them he made them money and asked for more. By December, the deficit grew to $83,732 from trading losses, according to the indictment. He also funneled money into his own accounts and took tens of thousands of dollars for other personal uses, prosecutors said.
The couple, who worked as a machinist and nurse, eventually took out a $200,000 home equity loan on their house, which was paid off, prosecutors said. In the presence of a Chase Bank representative who went to the couple's house to finalize the loan paperwork, prosecutors say Cho — also a Korean-American — told the couple in Korean that the transaction was for the Build 12 venture.
A date for Cho's arraignment has not been set, according to Randall Samborn, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago.
Tribune reporter Dan Hinkel contributed
KawamotoDragon.com
Prosecutors said Cho, 44, formerly of Arlington Heights, defrauded the couple of about $470,000 after they responded to his ad in a local Korean-language newspaper seeking real estate investors. Cho has been charged with mail fraud, according to the latest indictment.
First indicted in 2004, Cho is currently in federal prison in Duluth, Minn., where he was sent after pleading guilty in 2007 to 16 counts of wire fraud, according to federal records. Cho, who was sentenced to 65 months, is scheduled to be released in November, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website.
Cho pleaded guilty, records show, to a plot by a group of executives and traders at a now-defunct Chicago brokerage firm to fabricate and make unauthorized trades, losing $7.3 million in clients' money.
In the most recent case, prosecutors allege that Cho took out an ad touting investment opportunities on foreclosed real estate in April 2008 — a month after he was sentenced but before February 2009, when he was ordered to report to prison.
The charging documents say the couple, who are Korean-Americans with no real estate investment experience, gave Cho a $5,000 check to start searching for properties in August 2008. Weeks later, they gave Cho more money, in the form of three cashier's checks of $10,000 apiece, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors say Cho then proposed a real estate venture called Build 12 LLC and asked the couple to pay $550,000 to become partners in September 2008. They signed an agreement that claimed the company, which court records called a "fictitious entity", would manage $38 million in real estate, according to prosecutors.
The charging documents say Cho managed to gain control of money the couple put into trading accounts, using it for his own trades in October 2008.
Court records show that although the couple's trading account had a $7,369 deficit, Cho told them he made them money and asked for more. By December, the deficit grew to $83,732 from trading losses, according to the indictment. He also funneled money into his own accounts and took tens of thousands of dollars for other personal uses, prosecutors said.
The couple, who worked as a machinist and nurse, eventually took out a $200,000 home equity loan on their house, which was paid off, prosecutors said. In the presence of a Chase Bank representative who went to the couple's house to finalize the loan paperwork, prosecutors say Cho — also a Korean-American — told the couple in Korean that the transaction was for the Build 12 venture.
A date for Cho's arraignment has not been set, according to Randall Samborn, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago.
Tribune reporter Dan Hinkel contributed
KawamotoDragon.com
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