Oly: US fugitive arrested in Olympic scandal Oly BriberyKim
By Paul Foy
SALT LAKE CITY, May 21 AP - John Kim, the son of apowerful IOC member and a fugitive from US justice, hasbeen arrested on three-year-old charges related to theSalt Lake City Olympic scandal.
Kim was arrested on Sunday in Bulgaria on a warrantfrom the international police agency Interpol and facesextradition to the United States, FBI special agentEugene Casey said today.
He is the son of Kim Un-yong, 71, a South Korean IOCmember reprimanded by the International OlympicCommittee in 2000 for his involvement in this city’sbribery scandal.
John Kim was one of three minor players indicted inthe tainted bid for the 2002 Winter Olympics.
He was accused of lying to FBI investigators and 16counts of using a fraudulently obtained green card for asham'' job, which a telecommunications executivetestified was arranged by Salt Lake's bid leaders. Kim, who was living on New York's Long Island, fled toSouth Korea before his September 1999 indictment andnever returned. He is being held by Bulgaria for likely extradition tothe United States for prosecution, Casey said. In the main case, bribery racketeering charges againstSalt Lake City bid chief Tom Welch and deputy DaveJohnson were reinstated by a federal appeals court onApril 22 after a judge in Utah threw them out. The two men were accused of plying IOC delegates inthe early 1990s with $US1 million ($A1.53 million) in cash andgifts ranging from medical care to US scholarships andjobs for family members. The scandal forced the expulsion or resignation of 10IOC members as the organisation tightened bidding rules. Kim Un-yong was handed a most severe’’ warning by anIOC ethics panel that said he used his influence ininternational sports to further his son’s career.
The senior Kim, who finished second in the 2001 racefor IOC president, said he didn’t know the job wasarranged as part of Salt Lake’s bid campaign.
The government alleges John Kim took a no-show jobsecretly funded by the bid committee so Kim couldqualify for a green card.
He was hired by Utah telecommunications executiveDavid Simmons, who pleaded guilty to tax fraud in August1999 in the bribery scandal’s first criminal conviction.
Simmons said he was reimbursed by the Salt Lake bidcommittee for Kim’s salary.
He admitted writing it off anyway as a tax deduction.He said Kim held a ``sham’’ job - a comment that led toSimmons’ conviction in absentia of libel in a Seoulcourt.
John Kim and his father have maintained the youngerKim did real consulting work for Simmons, makingbusiness introductions in Asia.
Former USOC official Alfredo La Mont, a secret SaltLake consultant, also pleaded to a tax charge and awaitssentencing.
AP md
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