Northern Mariana Islands: Bank Fraudster Sung Peel Hwang Sentenced to 41 Months in Prison

Overview

Sung Peel Hwang, a 39-year-old man from the Republic of Korea and naturalized U.S. citizen, was sentenced to serve 41 months in federal prison for Bank Fraud and Money Laundering charges.
Hwang had previously worked as an administrator at the Korean Air Lines (KAL) Guam office stationed at the Guam International Airport.

Hwang’s fraudulent scheme ran from September 2015 to December 2018.
In his position as an administrator, he defrauded his employer and the Guam International Airport Authority (GIAA) out of over $600,000.
His duties included reporting passenger numbers and paying the corresponding Passenger Facility Charges (PFC) to the GIAA.
Hwang underreported the actual PFC to the GIAA and kept the difference for his personal use.
He deposited over $3.5 million in KAL funds into his personal account, diverting $600,000.00 for his personal gain.

U.S. Attorney Shawn N. Anderson commented, “Mr. Hwang defrauded his employer and the Guam International Airport Authority out of a substantial sum of money, but thankfully, GIAA’s auditing procedures uncovered this illicit scheme.”
FBI Special Agent in Charge Steven Merrill stated, “The Federal Bureau of Investigation focuses on investigating financial crimes that negatively impact our communities. This sentence serves as a warning to others who might engage in similar unlawful conduct.”
IRS-CI Special Agent in Charge Adam Jobes added, “Mr. Hwang’s greed resulted in a temporary financial gain, but it came at a cost to those he swindled and at the expense of his community. Today’s sentencing illustrates CI’s unwavering commitment to combatting financial crimes.”

The FBI Guam Resident Agency and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation.
Prosecution was provided by Assistant United States Attorney Benjamin K. Petersburg for the District of Guam.