FBI Agent Pleads Guilty to Making False Statements in Connection with $41,000 Voucher Fraud

WASHINGTON—Jeff B. Shim, a 40-year-old former Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, pled guilty today to one count of making false statements in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001 for fraudulently claiming over a 15-month period more than $41,000 in housing expenses to which he was not entitled, Acting U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips announced today. Shim resigned from the FBI last week in connection with his plea.

Shim entered his guilty plea before the Honorable Judge Reggie B. Walton in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. At sentencing on February 5, 2010, Shim faces up to five years imprisonment, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. As part of his plea agreement, Shim has agreed to make restitution to the FBI in the amount of $41,658.57.

According to plea documents, Shim, while on a temporary duty assignment from the FBI’s Newark, N.J. office, submitted a series of false documents to FBI Headquarters for reimbursement for claimed lodging expenses. Shim falsely represented that he was renting a room in Beltsville, Maryland from May 2008 through July 2009, when, in fact, he was principally residing with his family in Olney, Maryland. The false documents submitted by Shim to the FBI included two fabricated “Rental Agreements” with forged signatures of a fictitious landlord. Through the submission of these false documents, Shim unlawfully received $41,658.57. FBI internal controls discovered the irregularities that led to the OIG/FBI joint investigation and, ultimately, Shim’s plea.

In announcing today’s guilty plea, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillips praised the work of the investigative agents involved in this matter, including Special Agent Stella Ortega of the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, and members of the FBI. He also acknowledged the efforts of Legal Assistant Jamasee Lucas and SEEP Student Sierra Tate, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel S. Friedman and Matthew C. Solomon, who are handling this prosecution.