Vague Suspicions Lead to Identity-Theft Arrest

Irvine Police Officer Mike Hallinan’s suspicions were aroused Monday by a man loitering in a car with no front license plates. His suspicions deepened, he said, when the man tried to evade him by driving into a cul-de-sac near Paseo Westpark and Santa Teresita.

And they were confirmed, authorities said Tuesday, after a search of the car revealed scores of documents listing the names, addresses and Social Security numbers of several people.

“Are you involved in identity theft?” Hallinan asked the suspect.

“I know it’s no excuse,” police said Daniel Soo Hwan Kim replied, “but it is so easy.”

The upshot: Kim, 33, is being held in Orange County Jail on suspicion of illegally obtaining at least $180,000 through forgery and the theft of at least five people’s identities. Bail was also set at $180,000. “They tried to match the bail with the crime,” said Lt. Jeff Love, a spokesman for the Irvine Police Department.

The matter is still under investigation, Love said, but so far police have uncovered evidence that Kim -- an unemployed financial advisor living in Santa Ana -- may have obtained the personal information from several clients while working at a local investment firm. He was able to use the information, Love said, to open online checking accounts in their names, into which he deposited the proceeds from a series of fraudulent loans that he then withdrew.

“We’re in the process of unraveling it all right now, finding out who’s been victimized, and to what extent,” Love said. “There will also be some financial institutions that are victims.”

Love said he could not explain why Kim was carrying the incriminating evidence in his car. But, he said, “many of these people operate in a very clandestine fashion -- they keep the evidence in suitcases because they don’t want to keep it at home.”

Whatever the reason, Love said, Hallinan was the right guy to make the stop. “He’s been involved in identity theft cases before,” Love said of the officer he called “one of our best. He knew what to look for. He started asking some questions, and the guy essentially admitted it.”