Twin brothers who work as MRI technicians have pleaded guilty to federal tax crimes tied to a side business reselling golf tee times in Los Angeles and Orange counties. Se Youn “Steve” Kim of Buena Park and Hee Youn “Ted” Kim of Pomona, both 42, admitted the charges in a case announced on September 29.
The government puts Steve Kim’s tax loss at $387,221 and Ted Kim’s at $194,395, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. Sentencing is set for January 12, 2027.
Thousands of tee times, resold for a fee
The brothers reserved thousands of golf tee times at numerous golf courses in Los Angeles and Orange counties, then resold them for a fee to members of the public, the U.S. Attorney’s Office says. The IRS Criminal Investigation release calls the tee-time work a side hustle that ran alongside their jobs as MRI technicians.
The tax charges grew out of both jobs. The release describes tax crimes arising from the brothers’ MRI technician work and from the tee-time brokering, including false withholding exemptions on their paycheck paperwork.
Two brothers, two different counts
The charges are not identical. Steve Kim pleaded guilty to one count of subscribing to a false tax return. Ted Kim pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion.
The tax losses are also separate. The $387,221 is attributed to Steve Kim and the $194,395 to Ted Kim, so the two figures are not a combined total for a shared account.
Anyone who earns money from reselling tickets, tee times, rides, crafts or other part-time work, and who does not receive a tax form for it, is in the group this case speaks to. The question for those households is whether income that arrives without a 1099 still has to go on a return, and the IRS’s answer is that it does.
Tax cases like this one rarely end at the plea, and The Retirement Money Brief will cover the next step in plain English when it happens.
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What the income figures in the release mean
The IRS release gives income totals for each brother. For the tax years 2021 through 2023, Steve Kim received approximately $810,919 in income. For 2022 and 2023, Ted Kim received approximately $496,998. Those are the incomes the brothers received over those years, drawn from their jobs and the tee-time business together, not the amount from tee times alone and not the amount of tax owed.
The IRS release also gives the span of each tax loss. Steve Kim’s $387,221 covers 2012 through 2023, a stretch of twelve years, while Ted Kim’s $194,395 covers 2016 through 2023, eight years. Spread evenly over those years, the losses average roughly $32,300 a year for Steve Kim and $24,300 a year for Ted Kim.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office press listing summarizes the case as failing to report approximately $1.3 million in income to the IRS. The two income totals in the release add up to about that figure. The tax losses in the headline of the case are much smaller than the income because they measure the tax that went unpaid on the income, not the income itself.
Where the case goes from here
Both men have admitted guilt, so the case now turns on the court’s sentencing decision rather than a trial. A judge will set each brother’s sentence on January 12, 2027. The releases in the case do not say what either man is expected to receive, and a plea does not fix the sentence.
The IRS and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles are the places where the result will be announced. The same office lists its releases on its press release page, where the sentencing outcome would appear after the hearing.
Reporting side-hustle income and checking withholding
The IRS’s gig economy tax center states the rule plainly: income earned from the gig economy must be reported on a tax return, even when it comes from part-time, temporary or side work. The page is the free starting place for anyone who has been selling tickets, tee times or services on the side, and it covers the kinds of income that arrive without a tax form attached. Read it at the IRS gig economy tax center.
The practical steps are the ones the case turns on. Keep a running record of every sale and every fee received, including the ones no platform reports. Match the total to what goes on the return. Check the withholding form given to an employer each year against the household’s real situation, since a form that claims more exemptions than are warranted shrinks each paycheck’s tax and leaves a gap at filing time.
The IRS Criminal Investigation and U.S. Attorney’s releases linked above remain the sources for what the Kim brothers admitted and what the court decides next.
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This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by The Financial Wire’s editorial team.
Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
