Case: 1:18-cr-00107 Document #: 1 Filed: 02/15/18 Page 1 of 16 PageID #:1
AUSAs Sunil R. Harjani and Sheri Mecklenburg

^F,-f ilp@"u$)uu'",
FEB

15 2010Y/

(312) 353-9353

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS

^.rnsfa,if,hfi!6go

C[ERK, U.S. DISTRI(

EASTERN,T*',,*1gcR

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

t0?

CASE NUMBER:
v.

funotsrRATE JUDGE MARTIN

JOSEPH KIM

CRIIVIINAL COMPLAIN'T

I, the complainant in this case, state that the following is true to the best of my knowledge
and belief.

From in or about September 2017 to in or about November 2017, at Chicago, in the Northern

District of Illinois, Eastern Division, the defendant(s) violated:
Code Section

Offense Description

Title

Defendant engaged

18, United States Code, Section

1343

in a scheme to defraud, and

to obtain money and property by means of
materially false and fraudulent pretenses,
representations, promises and concealment of
material facts, and, for the purpose of executing
such scheme, caused to be transmitted by means
of an interstate wire communication the transfer

of

approximately

55 Bitcoins on or

about

November 16,2OL7
This criminal complaint is based upon these facts:

X

Continued on the attached sheet.
TODD
Speci

. RA-

Agent, Federal Bureau of Investigation

(FBI)
Sworn to before me and signed in my

presence.

Date:February15.2ol8

,*_

(*

.''' (rt ,

w4-ff

Judge's signature
City and state: Chicaon Illinois

DANIEL G. MARTIN. U.S. Magistrate Judge
Printed name and Title

 Case: 1:18-cr-00107 Document #: 1 Filed: 02/15/18 Page 2 of 16 PageID #:2

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

)
)

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS

)

AFFIDAYIT
I, Todd D. Rathbun, being duly sworn, state as follows:

l.

I am a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"), and I

am

assigned to its Chicago Division. I have been employed by the FBI as a Special Agent since 2016,

during which time I have conducted financial fraud investigations. I am currently assigned to an

FBI squad dedicated to the investigation of federal wire and mail fraud offenses,

as

well

as related

financial crimes.

2.
contained

This affidavit is submitted in support of the attached complaint. The information

in this affidavit is

based upon my personal knowledge, as

well as my review of

subpoenaed records, records obtained without the use of subpoenas, and on information provided

to me by witnesses to the events discussed herein. Because this affidavit is submitted for the
limited purpose of establishing probable cause with regard to the attached criminal complaint, it
does not set forth each and every fact that I have learned during this investigation.

3.

This affidavit is made in support of a criminal complaint alleging that, from in or

about September 2017 andcontinuing through in or about November 2017 , JOSEPH

KIM engaged

in a scheme to defraud, and to obtain money and property by means of materially false

and

fraudulent pretenses, representations, promises and concealment of material facts, and, for the
purpose of executing such scheme, caused to be transmitted by means of wire communication in

interstate commerce certain writings, signs, and signals, in violation of Title 18, United States
Code, Section 1343 (wire fraud).

 Case: 1:18-cr-00107 Document #: 1 Filed: 02/15/18 Page 3 of 16 PageID #:3

4.

As further stated below, there is probable cause to believe that KIM engaged in

, LLC, Consolidated Trading, LLC's

scheme to defraud Consolidated Trading

a

affiliated entity

Franklin & Wacker, LLC, and its principals. Specifically, there is probable cause to believe that

KIM, who was a trader at Consolidated, misappropriated at least $2 million of the company's
cryptocurrencies, namely Bitcoin and Litecoin, for his own personal beneht and made false
statements and representations

to the

company's management

in

order

to

conceal his

misappropriation.

FACTS ESTABLISHING PROBABLE CAUSE
Background

5.

The records of the Illinois Secretary of State show that Consolidated is a privately-

held Illinois corporation founded in or around October 2001, with its principal place of business

in Chicago, Illinois. At all relevant times, Consolidated was a proprietary trading

company

specializing in the hading of index-based options and other derivatives products.

6.

KIM was hired by Consolidated on or about July

Consolidated's Bond Group.

l,

20!6 asan assistant trader in

KIM lived in Chicago, Illinois and worked at

Consolidated's

Chicago office. According to one of Consolidated's owners (Owner A), on or about September

2017, Consolidated formed

a

Cryptocurrency Group

to

engage

in cryptocurrency trading.

Consolidated formed a new affiliate, Franklin, for the Cryptocurrency Group. On or about
September 1,2017, Consolidated moved KIM from its Bond Group to its Cryptocurency Group.

7.

Based on publicly available information, and my own training and experience, I

know that cryptocurrencies are digital (or virtual) currencies that function as mediums of
exchange, units ofaccount, and/or stores

ofvalue.

These currencies use cryptography (a form

of

data encryption) for security and are not issued by any central authority, such as a goveflrment or

banking system. Crlptocurrencies are exchanged between users on a decentralized peer-to-peer

 Case: 1:18-cr-00107 Document #: 1 Filed: 02/15/18 Page 4 of 16 PageID #:4

network

of

computers, which

is called a blockchain.

Exchanges

of

cryptocurrencies use

alphanumeric addresses, and not user's actual names, account numbers, or other personally
identifi able information

8.

While cryptocurencies often operate like real currencies issued by central

authorities, they do not have legal tender status

irt the United States. That said,

many

cryptocurrencies have an equivalent value in (and can be converted to) real cutrency. These are

commonly referred to as "convertible" virtual currencies and include Bitcoin and Litecoin. For
example, the holder

of 10 Bitcoins

can convert those Bitcoins to an equivalent value of U.S.

currehcy based on current exchange rates. While there are currently hundreds of different types

of cryptocurrencies in existence, Bitcoin and Litecoin are some of the most commonly used
cryptocurrencies in circulation. Both Bitcoin and Litecoin are convertible virtual currencies that
can be transferred between users and purchased

with, and exchanged for, U.S. and other real or

virtual currencies.

9.

Cryptocurrencies can be traded on exchanges, which are businesses that allow

crytrltocurrencies to be traded for government-backed currencies, such as the U.S. Dollar, or other

cryltocurrencies. As discussed later in this affidavit, some of these exchanges included Bitfinex,
BitMEX, Bithumb, and Kraken. Bitfinex is a cryptoculrency exchange owned by iFinex, tnc.
located in Hong Kong. BitMEX is a cryptocurency exchange owned by HDR Global Trading
Limited located in Hong Kong. Bithumb is

a

cryptocwrencyexchange ownedby BTC KoreaCom

Corporation, Ltd. located in Seoul, South Korea. Kraken is a cryptoculrency exqhange owned by
Payward, Inc. whose U.S. operations are operated under Payward Ventures, Inc., both of which
are located in San Francisco, California.

 Case: 1:18-cr-00107 Document #: 1 Filed: 02/15/18 Page 5 of 16 PageID #:5

10.

Wallets or digital wallets are mediums that store the public andprivate keys which

can be used to receive or transfer the cryptocurrency. Public and private keys are the encryption

mechanisms used to access cryptocurrency. Wallets can be in the form of hardware (similar to a

USB drive or an external hard drive), or through a third-party online wallet

provider.

Trezor

wallets are a type of digital wallet that are small, physical devices (similar to thumb drives or
external hard drives) that allow cryltocurrency to be securely transferred to and from accounts to
trade cryptocrurency on various exchanges.

11.

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and Chicago Board Options Exchange

(CBOE) began trading cryptocurrency derivatives (such as futures contracts) on or about
December 10 and 18,2011, respectively. While crylrtocurrencies were available to be bought and
sold in the U.S. prior to December 10,2017, cryptocurrency derivatives were not available on U.S.

exchanges before this

time. That said, foreign-based

platforms and/or exchanges offered

cryptocurrency derivatives prior to December 10, 2017.

12.

Primary forms of foreigu derivatives include futures contracts traded on foreign

exchanges. Futures contracts are financial instruments representing contracts to buy or sell

a

specific product or financial instrument (such as currency) in the future. That is, the buyer and
seller of a futures contract agree on a price today for a product or financial instrument to be
delivered (by the seller), in exchange for currency (to be provided by the buyer), on a future date.

A "short" futures position is one in which the seller speculates the price of the underlying financial
instrument

will

decrease before the specific future date allowing the seller

to profit on having

secured the price at an earlier, higher rate.

13.

For example,

if Bitcoin is trading

at $10,000 per Bitcoin, a futures trader enters a

short position by agreeing to sell Bitcoin at $10,000 at a future date in anticipation that Bitcoin

 Case: 1:18-cr-00107 Document #: 1 Filed: 02/15/18 Page 6 of 16 PageID #:6

prices

will

decrease before that

date. If Bitcoin is trading at $9,000 per Bitcoin on the futures

contract settlement date, the seller would have earned $1,000 in profit, as the buyer would be
required to purchase it from him/her at $10,000 instead of the current market rate of $9,000.

14.

Futures positions typically have initial margin requirements. These margin

requirements necessitate the holder to deposit a certain percentage of the contract price to cover
negative movement of the underlying financial instrument. For example, the holder of the short

Bitcoin future of $10,000 may be required to deposit

30Yo

(or $3,000) to help cover any losses on

this position. Thus, if the price of Bitcoin increased to $l1,000 (instead of decreasing), the initial

margin would cover the related $1,000 loss.

15.

If a price change results in a loss that exceeds the initial margin, the exchange may

issue a "margin call" in which

it

requires the position holder to deposit additional funds. For

example, if the price of Bitcoin increased from $10,000 to $14,000, a margin call might be made

requiring the trader to deposit an additional $1,000 of margin to cover the loss exceeding their
$3,000 initial margin.

Information Obtained from Consolidated

16.

From in or about December 2017 through February 2018,I conducted interviews

with members of Consolidated's management and other personnel. These interviews included:
Owner

(l)

A, who was a co-owner of Consolidated, (2) Owner B, who was also a co-owner of

Consolidated, (3) Director

A, who was Consolidated's controller, (4) Director B, who was

Consolidated's Chief Financial Officer,

(5) Director C, who was Consolidated's

Chief

Administrative Officer; (6) Director D, who was Consolidated's Chief Compliance Officer, and
(6) Trader A, who was a trader in Consolidated's Cryptocurrency Group at the same time as KIM.

 Case: 1:18-cr-00107 Document #: 1 Filed: 02/15/18 Page 7 of 16 PageID #:7

Consolidated Policies Concerning Employees' Personal Trading Accounts

17.

Consolidated had specific policies and procedures in place for its employees who

were trading regulated securities and commodities concerning personal trading activity outside

of

their employment. The FBI has obtained a copy of Consolidated's policies and procedures
concerning personal trading by employees. According to these policies, Consolidated's employees

trading

in regulated securities and commodities were required to 'provide

notification to

[Consolidated] of their desire to establish a securities account at another financial institution," or

if

an account was already held, ' promptly provide written notification to the

firm" of the existence

ofthe account. If an account was already open, the employee had to "arrarrge for duplicate monthly
confirmations, statements, or other information related to all outside account transactions to be
sent contemporaneously to [Director

D]." If an account

was not yet opened, Director D would

review the employees' request to open the account and either approve or deny the request. In
addition, to the extent an employee held an approved personal account, he/she was "required to
conduct activity that [did] not pose risks due to conflicts of interest." According to Director D,

"conflicts of interest" included trading the same securities (or cryptocurrencies) personally that a
trader was trading professionally during their employment.

18.

According to Director D, KIM agreed to abide by these policies during the course

of his employment as a bond trader, prior to joining the Cryptocurrency Group. The FBI

has

obtained and reviewed annual electronic verifications by KIM where KIM acknowledged that he
reviewed and agreed to abide by Consolidated's policies.

19. Due to the fact that Consolidated

was new

to

cryptocurrency trading,

Consolidated's Cryptocurency Group did not have the same written policies in place. However,

 Case: 1:18-cr-00107 Document #: 1 Filed: 02/15/18 Page 8 of 16 PageID #:8

according to Director D, when KIM became a Cryptocurrency Trader in or about September 2017,

Director D verbally informed KIM that he could not engage in personal trading in cryptocurency,
consistent with Consolidated's policy for all traders.

20. At or about this time, KIM orally informed Director D that KIM held personal
cryptocurrency accounts. Director D instructed KIM to cease all personal trading in his personal
cryptocurrency accounts outside of his employment due to this activity creating a conflict

of

interest. According to Director D, KIM verbally agreed to do so. Director D further informed
KIM that if Consolidated discovered he was trading in cryptocurrencies personally, he could be
terminated or other actions could be taken against him.

KIM's Misappropriation of Litecoin

21.

After KIM had been informed about Consolidated's prohibition on personal trading

in cryptocurrency, according to Director A, on or about the weekend of Septemb er 23,2017,KlM_

initiated transfers of approximately 980 Litecoins (valued at approximately $48,000)r from
Consolidated's Bitfinex account to an account to which Consolidated had no control or access.

According to Director A, during the week of September 25, 2017, Director A discovered these

Litecoin transfers that had occurred over the weekend, and sent an instant message to KIM
inquiring why these transfers were made. According to Director A, KIM stated he moved these
funds to his personal digital wallet for safety reasons. The FBI has obtained these instant messages
that were sent by

KIM to Director

A. According to the instant mossages,

KIM

stated his personal

wallet was intended "as an intermediary holding space" for the 980 Litecoins to avoid alleged
issues

1 A11

with the Bitfinex exchange. According to Director A, he understood KIM's response to

values assigned to cryptocurrency in this affidavit are calculated at the market value for the currency
at the time of the transactions.

 Case: 1:18-cr-00107 Document #: 1 Filed: 02/15/18 Page 9 of 16 PageID #:9

mean that

KIM moved the Litecoins in order to ensure the security of the Litecoins given purported

issues with Bitfinex.

22.

According to additional instant messages obtained, on or about September 27,

2Ol7,KIM had further communication with Director A about the Litecoin transfers. According
to the instant messages, KIM represented to Director A that he moved the 980 Litecoins to

a

personal wallet to be securely held. KIM also emailed Director A a screenshot of a Trezor wallet,

which I have obtained, which purportedly shows the Trezor wallet holding the 980 Litecoins. In
this email, KIM stated: "I just set up my company Trezor .. . so this situation will not happen again."

According to Director A, he understood this to mean that KIM had established a company Trezor
Wallet and that the Litecoins had been transferred into the company's wallet account.

23.

Director B also inquired about the location of these Litecoins on at least two

separate occasions in or about October 2017 via instant message. The FBI has obtained copies
these instant messages. In these instant messages,

KIM represented these Litecoins were being

held on aTrezor wallet. Pertinent portions of the instant messages are as follows:

Date

& Time

1011612017

-

10116/2017

- l6:53

16:45

Date & Time
10/25/2017 - 15:47
1012512017

10125/2017

- 15:49
- 15:49

of

Individual

Messase

Director B

KIM

"WHat is your [Litecoin] position at
Bitfinex. on the xchanse Wallet"
*979.578
on Trezor"

Individual

Messase

Director B

"...you stillhave [Litecoin] in your wallet

KIM
KIM

correct"
"Chk. 979,578 orrTrez"
"Confirmed"

 Case: 1:18-cr-00107 Document #: 1 Filed: 02/15/18 Page 10 of 16 PageID #:10

24.

Based on the previous representations by KIM, Director

instant message responses

B understood KIM's

to mean that the approximately 980 Litecoins were on KIM's

Consolidated Trezor wallet, which was a company device.

25-

The FBI has obtained the transaction history for

Based on my review

KIM's Consolidated Trezor wallet.

of the transaction history, these Litecoins were not transferred to

the

Consolidated Trezor wallet.

26.

The FBI has also obtained records produced by Kraken, which is a cryptocunency

exchange. According to these records, these 980 Litecoins were transferred to KIM's personal
Kraken account on or about September 24,2017

.

Records obtained by the FBI do not show these

980 Litecoins being transferred back to the company prior to Consolidated discovering these
transfers to KIM's personal account on or about November 28,2017

.

According to Directors A

and B, Consolidated did not find that these Litecoins were transferred back to the company prior

to on or about November 28, 2017, when Consolidated discovered the misappropriation. Thus,
there is probable cause to believe that

KIM misappropriated 980 Litecoins that were valued at

$48,000, and that KIM made false statements to Consolidated's management in order to conceal
thi s mi sappropriation.

KIM's Misappropriation of Bitcoin

27.

According to Director A, on or about November l7,2Ol7,when he was preparing

the daily reconciliations of Consolidated's traders' activity, Director A noticed approximately 55

Bitcoins (valued at approximately $433,000) were transferred by KIM from Consolidated's
Bithumb account to an account that he did not recognize. According to Director A, he emailed

KIM

and asked about these 55

Bitcoins. The FBI has obtained

a copy

of this electronic mail. In

the email, KIM represented that the transfer of the 55 Bitcoins had been "blocked," and that KIM

 Case: 1:18-cr-00107 Document #: 1 Filed: 02/15/18 Page 11 of 16 PageID #:11

had taken steps to "unblock" them. According to Director A, he understood this to mean that the
55 Bitcoins would be returned to Consolidated's Bithumb account in one or two days.

28.

On or about November 20,2017, KIM did transfer back approximately 27 Bitcoins

to Consolidated's Bithumb account. However, the additional 28 Bitcoins remained missing into
the weekend of November 25,2017.

29.

According to Owner A, following the weekend of November 25, 2011, KIM did

not come into work on or about November 27 or 28, 2017, and instead represented that he was

sick. On or about November 28, 2017, according to Consolidated's management, Consolidated
discovered that KIM had actually misappropriated a substantial amount of Bitcoin.

30.

As reflected in account records obtained by the FBI, beginning on or about Sunday,

November 26, 2017 through Tuesday, November 28, 201'7,
transactions

KIM

entered into

in which he transferred an additional approximately 284 Bitcoins

a

series of

(valued at

approximately $2,815,000) from Consolidated's Bithumb account to a Consolidated Trezor wallet,

which as explained above, was a device designed to permit access to cryptocurrencies. These 284
Bitcoins belonged to Consolidated.

31.

The account records then show that KIM transferred approximately 102 of the

company's Bitcoins (valued at approximately $1,012,000) back into Consolidated's Bithumb
account during this same period.

KIM also transferred the remaining 182 Bitcoins to and from his

Consolidated Trezor wallet and his personal accounts, lost a portion in personal trading, and
ultimately retained 58 Bitcoins on his personal account. Thus, there is probable cause to believe
that KIM misappropriated Consolidated's Bitcoin and made false statements to Consolidated's
management, such as that a transaction had been blocked and that he would retum cryptocurrency

to Consolidated, in order to conceal this misappropriation.

10

 Case: 1:18-cr-00107 Document #: 1 Filed: 02/15/18 Page 12 of 16 PageID #:12

KIM's Meeting with Consolidated on or about November 2812017

32.

According

cryptocurrency

to Owner A, after discovering KIM's transfer of

to an account they did not recognize, Owner A

Consolidated's offices on or about November

28,2017.

asked

Consolidated's

KIM to come into

Present at that meeting were, among

others, Owner A, Owner B, and Director A.

33.

According to Owner A, he and others questioned KIM about his transfers of

Consolidated's crytrltocurrency. In response, KIM stated that he had engaged in personal hading
using the approximately 55 Bitcoins that he had transferred from Consolidated's Bithumb account
to his personal accounts.

KIM further represented that

he invested these Bitcoins in

o'short"

futures

positions on foreign derivatives exchanges. KIM stated that when the price of Bitcoin increased,
and he was losing money, he transferred additional Bitcoins from Consolidated's Bithumb account

to cover the margin ca1ls for these personal investments on the foreign derivatives exchanges.
Thus, KIM admitted to taking and transferring the company's cryptocurrency for his own personal

benefit at this meeting.

34.

On or about November 29 ,2017

,KlM

sent an email to Owner A, Owner B, Director

A, Director B, Director C, and Trader A. The FBI has obtained

a copy

of this email. In this email,

KIM provided details of the transfers he made of Consolidated's Bitcoins to his personal accounts
and digital wallets. Specifically,

KIM

stated he made the transfer of the approximately 55 Bitcoins

from Consolidated to his personal account to cover his trading losses.

35.

KIM further stated that over the weekend ofNovemb er 25,2017,he had made back

some of his losses, and that he was feeling "invincible," which led him to continue trading, but
also experienced more losses. In this email, KIM provided transaction details for the additional
transfers of Consolidated's Bitcoins in order to cover those losses. During the course of these

LL

 Case: 1:18-cr-00107 Document #: 1 Filed: 02/15/18 Page 13 of 16 PageID #:13

transfers ofthe company's cryptocurrency,

KIM statedhis'Judgment [was] becoming increasingly

erratic."

36.

In this email, KIM also provided details of the transfers he made of Consolidated's

Litecoins to his personal accounts and digital wallets. Specifically, KIM stated he made the
transfer of the approximately 980 Litecoins from Consolidated's Bitfinex account to his personal
Kraken account because, according to KIM, at that time his "personal account sees big drawdown,
facing liquidation transfer LTC from Bitfinex to [KIM's personal] Kraken." According to Director
B, he understood this to mean that

KIM transferred the company's Litecoin to his personal account

in order to cover losses he was experiencing in his personal cryptocurrency trading at that time.
ln this email, KIM provided specific transaction details showing his transfers of Litecoin from the
company account to his personal account. KIM also stated in this email that he had eventually
converted the company's Litecoin that he had taken into Bitcoin.

37.

KIM

ended his November 29,2017 email by stating:

"It was not my intention to steal for myself from [Consolidated] and until the end I
was perversely trying to fix what I had already done. I can't believe I did not stop
myself when I had the money to give back, and I will live with that for the rest of
my life. You have every apology I have to give, I am sorry to betray you all like
this."
Consolidated's Attempt to Recover its Cryptocurrencies

38.
A

On or about November 28, 2017 ,two Consolidated Cryptocurrency Traders (Trader

and Trader B) accompanied

on KIM's personal

KIM to his home to retrieve Consolidated Bitcoins allegedly held

wallet. While

at KIM's home, Trader A and Trader B also retrieved KIM's

Consolidated Trezor wallet (a physical hardware device), which KIM had taken home. According

to Trader A, while at his home, KIM referred to himself as a "degen," which according to Trader

A, he understood was a slang term for "degenerative gambler."

72

 Case: 1:18-cr-00107 Document #: 1 Filed: 02/15/18 Page 14 of 16 PageID #:14

39.

After obtaining KIM's Consolidated Trezor wallet and viewing KIM's

desktop

wallet, KIM, Trader A, and Trader B went back to Consolidated's office. While at Consolidated's

office, KIM assisted Trader A to
Consolidated

1og

into KIM's personal BitMEX account to recover additional

Bitcoins. Consolidated was able to recover approximat ely l44Bitcoins (valued

at

approximately $1,457,000) from KIM's Consolidated Trezor wallet and personal BitMEX
account.

Summary of Losses

40.

In summary, Consolidated was able to recover approximately 144 Bitcoins (valued

at approximately $1,457,000) from KIM's personal BitMEX account and Consolidated Trezor

wallet. As a result, Consolidated incurred a loss of approximately $603,000, as summarized
below:

Value in
US Currency2

-ffi#,

Bitcoins withdrawnby KrM
Litecoins withdrawn by
Total withdrawn by
Bitcoins returned by
Net Amount Withdrawn by
Bitcoins Recovered by Consolidated

I(IM
KIM
KIM
KIM

Consolidated Net Loss

48,000
3,296,000
1,236,000
2,060,000
1,457,000
$ 603,000

Use of Interstate Wires

41. I

have reviewed records relating

to electronic transfers involving the use of

Consolidated's cryptocurency funds of approximately 980 Litecoins (valued at approximately

2

Values are based on the approximate market value at the time of the respective transactions.

13

 Case: 1:18-cr-00107 Document #: 1 Filed: 02/15/18 Page 15 of 16 PageID #:15

$48,000). These transfers were made by KIM from Consolidated's Bitfinex account to KIM's
Kraken account on or about September 23,2017

42.

.

Based upon information obtained from Bitfinex, Bitfinex does not process transfers

in Illinois, but rather in Ireland. Thus, the Bitfinex transfers identified above that were initiated
by KIM in Illinois are international wire transactions.

43. I

have also reviewed records relating

to an electronic transfer involving

Consolidated's cryptocurrency of approximately 55 Bitcoins (valued at approximately $433,000).

This transfer was made by KIM from Consolidated's Bithumb account to KIM's Kraken account
on or about November 16,2017.

44.

Based upon information obtained from Kraken, Kraken does not process transfers

in Illinois, but rather in California. Thus, the Kraken transfers identified above that KIM initiated
in Illinois are interstate wire transactions.
Request for Issuance of a Complaint

45.

Based upon the foregoing information, there is probable cause to believe that, from

in or about September 2Ol7 and continuing through in or about November 2017, KIM devised,
intended to devise and participated in a scheme to defraud, and to obtain money and property,
namely at least $2 million in cryptocurrency, by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses,
representations and promises, and

by concealment of material facts, and for the purpose of

executing that scheme, and attempting to do so, caused to be transmitted by means of wire
communication in interstate commerce, certain signs, sounds and signals. In particular, for the
purpose of executing the aforesaid scheme, and attempting to do so, KIM knowingly caused to be
transmitted an interstate wire communication from Consolidated's Bithumb account inthe amount

of approximately 55 Bitcoins on or about November 16,2017 to KIM's personal Kraken account,

t4

 Case: 1:18-cr-00107 Document #: 1 Filed: 02/15/18 Page 16 of 16 PageID #:16

in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343.

CONCLUSION

46.

Based on the above information, I respectfully submit that there is probable cause

to believe that wire fraud offenses, in violation of

been committed by

Title

18, United States Code, Section 1343,have

KIM, and therefore respectfully request that this Court issue a criminal

complaint and arrest warrant for KIM.
FURTHER AFFIANT SAYETH NOT.

Todd D. Rathbun
Special Agent
Federal Bureau of lnvestigation

Subscribed and sworn before me this

day of February, 2018

The Honorable Daniel G. Martin
United States Magishate Judge
Northern District of Illinois

15