Federal Way woman pleads guilty to wire, bank fraud

Published 2:30 pm Monday, July 6, 2026

The 53-year-old woman presented herself as an investment advisor and defrauded $3 million from people in the Korean community, many of whom are elderly.

A Federal Way woman has pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud and two counts of bank fraud in connection with a fake financial advisor scheme where she targeted people in the Korean community to fund personal expenses and her gambling addiction.

On July 2, Jenni Yoon Jeong Lee, 53, pleaded guilty in Seattle’s US District Court following an FBI investigation. Investigators found that Lee had defrauded at least 28 people of over $3 million and that many of her victims had been elderly and were “relying on the funds for retirement.”

Lee had advertised herself as an investment advisor who took the $3 million of “investments” and put them into accounts controlled by herself. Some of the money was paid back to investors in the style of a Ponzi scheme, so the actual loss amount was above $1.5 million. Of that, Lee spent at least $900,000 at casinos.

“In her statement of facts Lee states that she had a gambling addiction and used other people’s money for gambling,” said an announcement from First Assistant US Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. “[…]According to records filed in the case, Lee created various business entities with names that made it seem they were financial investment companies. Lee opened and controlled bank accounts for these shell companies.”

The announcement further explained how Lee committed fraud:

“Lee held herself out as a financial advisor employed at the shell companies. She claimed both orally and in writing that she would place victim investments in funds that would guarantee a safe return, sometimes as high as 10%. She often represented that the principal was fully guaranteed so there was no risk associated with the investment.

Lee got the victims to write checks to one of the shell companies for ‘investment,’ or she induced the client to fund a self-directed IRA at a legitimate financial services company and to then give Lee access to manage the account. Lee would sometimes provide the financial services company with a promissory note to make it appear the client was loaning money to one of Lee’s shell companies. In this way she gained control of the investor funds.”

The three counts of wire fraud are for specific transfers of funds from self-directed IRA accounts. The two counts of bank fraud are for depositing client checks into one of the shell corporation accounts. These counts are representative acts of the alleged scheme and are punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 18, 2026.