Chiropractor, Wife Arraigned in Tax, Kickback Scheme
A San Marino chiropractor and his wife were arraigned Monday on charges that they hid $1.6 million from the IRS and paid kickbacks to personal injury attorneys who sent them patients.
Chongsu Kim, 45, and his wife, Yongai, 40, have signed a plea agreement and are expected to plead guilty Aug. 26, Assistant U.S. Atty. Alka Sager said. An undercover IRS agent working as Chongsu Kim’s office administrator gathered evidence during a yearlong investigation, which showed the Kims paying kickbacks to dozens of personal injury attorneys who referred their patients to Chongsu Kim, court documents allege.
Sager said that as a result of the investigation, about a dozen personal injury attorneys are under investigation for collecting Kim’s kickbacks. The case is the latest in an IRS investigation into “capping,” or paying for referrals in personal injury cases.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
