EG Woman To Plead Guilty To $5 Million In Fraud, Money Laundering

East Greenwich resident Sojin Lim, 60, of Fox Run, has agreed to plead guilty to one count each of bank fraud and money laundering in connection to an alleged scheme to defraud Rockland Trust Company of Massachusetts of more than $5 million.

Rhode Island U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha announced the plea agreement Monday, in conjunction with the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation; the Boston field office of the FBI; and the Rhode Island State Police.

Lim is Chief Executive Officer and Vice President of General Technologies Corporation, doing business as CompUtopia.

It is alleged in court documents that Lim devised a scheme to defraud Rockland Trust Company in order to satisfy a demand for repayment of a $5 million dollar line of credit with Citizens Bank. It is alleged that Lim falsified bank documents and overstated company revenues in order to secure the funding from Rockland Trust to finance repayment of the line of credit.

According to court documents, in the spring of 2011 Lim and CompUtopia were informed that the line of credit would no longer be carried by Citizens Bank and that CompUtopia was required to seek funding elsewhere. It is alleged that Lim devised a scheme to obtain the funding from Rockland Trust Company by providing false, fraudulent and fictitious information and documentation.

Court documents allege that Lim falsely stated CompUtopia’s accounts receivables as $7,066,268.04, when in fact CompUtopia’s accounts receivables were substantially less. In June 2011, based on the information and documents provided to Rockland Trust Company, the bank deposited $4,878,378.85 in an account which benefited CompUtopia. In April 2012, the Rockland Trust Company loan was increased to $5,350,000.

According to court documents, in late June 2011, Lim paid Citizens Bank $5,342,997.72 from funds provided by Rockland Trust and from a $464,610.37 loan taken against the defendant’s personal assets. CompUtopia filed for receivership in June 2012.

An information is merely an allegation and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

The maximum statutory penalty for bank fraud is 30 years in federal prison; a fine of $250,000; and 5 years of supervised release. The maximum statutory penalty for money laundering is 10 years in federal prison; a fine of $250,000; and 3 years supervised release.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys John P. McAdams and Sandra R. Hebert. It was investigated by Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, the FBI and Rhode Island State Police.