Salt Lake Tax Case Tied to IOC Scandal

A Salt Lake City businessman pleaded guilty Tuesday to a misdemeanor tax charge in the first criminal case stemming from the U.S. Justice Department’s investigation of the scandal surrounding Salt Lake City’s winning bid for the 2002 Winter Olympics.

David E. Simmons, 41, the former chairman of Keystone Communications, admitted in federal court in Salt Lake City that he was responsible for the telecommunications firm’s submitting a 1992 tax return that falsely deducted the salary of “employee” John Kim, son of Kim Un Yong, the influential International Olympic Committee delegate from South Korea.

Court documents spelled out the use of bogus consulting contracts and a phony invoice for “video services” to conceal the truth--that John Kim himself and the Salt Lake City bid committee were funding Kim’s salary, initially $50,000 a year, later increased to $70,383 annually.

Simmons said the scheme began when Tom Welch, the former head of the bid committee, asked for help in arranging a full-time job for Kim, then a foreign national who needed a full-time position to secure permanent-resident status in the United States.

Simmons agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. He faces a maximum sentence of one year behind bars, a fine or both.

Welch’s attorney, Tom Schaffer, said of the court documents in Simmons’ case, “I don’t see anything in there that says Tom Welch did anything criminal.”

In a statement, Kim Un Yong said he neither “participated in nor condoned” the bid committee’s arrangement with Keystone. The IOC earlier this year reprimanded the elder Kim for his connection to the Salt Lake scandal, which led to the resignation or expulsion of 10 other IOC members.