Englewood Cliffs Man Pleads Guilty to Role in Identity Theft Ring

An Englewood Cliffs man has pleaded guilty to the role he played in what the FBI calls a large-scale and sophisticated identity theft scheme which was headquartered in Bergen County, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said in a statement. 

Matthew J. Kang, 44, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Katharine S. Hayden in Newark on Thursday to a long list of charges which includes creating false documents, identity theft, bank fraud and tax evasion in a scheme that brought about $4 million in financial losses. 

Kang was arrested in 2010 -three years ago this month - along with dozens of others who were allegedly part of the ring. Police uncovered the identity theft ring after an associate committed a triple murder in Tenafly, according to a NorthJersey.com report. 

According to the statement, Kang worked with Sant-Hyn Park aka "Jimmy" the leader of the criminal organization which obtained, brokered, and sold identity documents to customers for the purpose of committing credit card fraud, bank fraud, tax fraud and other crimes. Park had pleaded guilty to his role in the enterprise in January of 2012 and awaits sentencing. 

Fishman says Kang admitted to obtaining and brokering Social Security cards of U.S. citizens who hailed from China and counterfeit drivers licenses to Park and others in the group. He admitted to using the identities to establish credit histories and credit scores for customers and also admitted to brokering numerous commercial loans through false statements and documents.

He further admitted to tax evasion by receiving income which includes commission and fees for the loans he brokered, funneling the income through his corporate accounts and using the money for personal use, Fishman said in the statement. 

Sentencing for Kang is set for Jan 6. He could face up to 30-years and more in prison based on the various counts of the charges, according to Fishman.