Former Manager at U.S. Auto Manufacturer Allegedly Accepted Over $3.4 Million in Bribes

LOS ANGELES – A former manager at a U.S.-based automobile manufacturing company was taken into custody this morning after being indicted this week on a federal bribery charge alleging he solicited a $5 million bribe from a South Korean company with promises of delivering a large contract for various car parts.

Hyoung Nam So, 46, of Irvine, who was also known as Brian So, surrendered this morning to federal authorities after a federal grand jury on March 23, charged him in a bribery conspiracy. So is expected to be arraigned on the one-count indictment this afternoon in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles.

The indictment alleges that the foreign parts supplier paid So a total of $3.45 million in cash. Homeland Security Investigations seized $3.19 million believed to be proceeds from the bribery scheme from a private vault in Los Altos, California in 2017, and HSI subsequently returned the money to South Korean authorities.

As a manager and team leader at the Michigan-based car manufacturer – referred to as “Company A” in the indictment – So oversaw the supply of parts used to build interiors for Company A automobiles in North America. In October 2015, the indictment alleges, So promised a contract to the owner of the South Korean parts company – “Company B” – in exchange for $5 million, which So demanded in cash.

The following month, the owner of Company B arranged to have $1 million in cash transferred to the United States through money brokers, which an accomplice then drove from Los Angeles to Michigan, according to the indictment. The owner of Company B allegedly flew to the United States in late November 2015 and personally delivered the cash to So in a meeting at a hotel in Troy, Michigan.

By the time the $1 million payment was made, So had learned that Company B was not the lowest bidder on the contract, and he arranged for information to be provided to Company B so it could revise its bid on the contract, according to the indictment. On Dec. 8, 2015, So recommended to Company A executives that the contract be awarded to Company B, and the contract was awarded to Company B on the same day.

“So refrained from notifying Company B of the contract award, and continued to withhold the information until [Company B’s owner] paid the remaining portion of the bribe,” the indictment states. On Dec. 20, 2015, the owner of Company B allegedly paid So another portion of the bribe at a restaurant in Detroit – $2.45 million that also had been driven from Los Angeles to Michigan. The following day, So arranged for Company B to be told it had won the contract.

The indictment charges So with one count of conspiracy to commit federal funds bribery, a charge related to the fact that Company A received money through federal assistance programs. This offense carries a maximum statutory penalty of five years in federal prison.

The owner of Company B was prosecuted for offenses related to the bribery scheme in South Korea.