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A Los Angeles man has been convicted of dozens of felonies for violently extorting karaoke companies in Koreatown utilizing strategies that appear ripped from a gangster movie.
Woodland Hills resident Daekun Cho, 39, was convicted on 57 fees: 55 counts of interference with commerce by extortion, one rely of tried interference with commerce by extortion and one rely of carjacking.
Between November 2020 and March 2023, Cho “demanded ‘safety’ cash from karaoke companies in Koreatown, in addition to from drivers of ‘doumis’ – or hostesses – employed by patrons of the karaoke institutions,” the U.S. Division of Justice stated in a news release.
Utilizing threats — and at the least as soon as, a baseball bat — Cho “bodily attacked, threatened, and instilled worry in his victims to induce them to pay him” so-called “safety charges” that ranged between $100 and $1,000 per thirty days both in individual or through Venmo, prosecutors stated.
In a single occasion in Could 2021, a doumi driver refused to pay Cho, so Cho and an confederate “beat the sufferer with baseball bats till knocking him unconscious after which stole his minivan,” prosecutors detailed.
“The sufferer suffered a damaged arm and a number of cuts and bruises,” the discharge stated. “In response, the sufferer and his enterprise associate closed their karaoke driving firm, and the enterprise associate left California.”
Different victims have been threatened with lethal violence, and in what appears to be an try to show his level, Cho adopted that warning with gunshots that broke the glass in a single sufferer’s automobile and induced an damage to a doumi.
“Right this moment’s verdict ought to ship a powerful message to these keen to make use of violence and threats of violence to intimidate Los Angeles communities,” stated Particular Agent in Cost Eddy Wang.
Cho is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 16. He faces a most sentence of 20 years in jail for every extortion-related rely and as much as 25 years for carjacking.
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