A Federal Way woman was indicted for allegedly presenting herself as an investment advisor to elderly members of the Korean community to defraud them.

Jenni Yoon Jeon Lee, 52, of Federal Way, was indicted by a federal grand jury for three counts of wire fraud and two counts of bank fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Western District of Washington.

The department reported that she allegedly defrauded 28 victims of over $3 million that she used for her expenses, her family’s expenses, or to pay off earlier investors in the style of a Ponzi scheme. The charges in the indictment are punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

The department stated that Lee accomplished the fraud by presenting herself as an investment advisor to elderly members of the Korean community. According to the indictment, Lee created various business entities with names that made it seem like they were financial investment companies, and she opened and controlled bank accounts for these shell companies.

“Ms. Lee held herself out as an experienced investment advisor offering her victims a guaranteed return on the funds they placed with her,” said acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. “However, the indictment notes that none of the money was invested and in fact, nearly $1 million of investor funds were accessed and spent at area casinos.”

The department reported that Lee said she was employed at these shell companies, and she claimed both orally and in writing that she would place victims’ investments in funds that would guarantee a safe return, sometimes as high as 10%. The department said that she often represented that the principal was fully guaranteed, so there was no risk associated with the investment.

The department said that Lee allegedly 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 give Lee access to manage the account. The department stated that Lee sometimes gained control of the investor’s funds by providing the financial services company with a promissory note to make it appear the client was loaning money to one of Lee’s shell companies.

According to the department, in total, Lee took in at least $3 million, but some money was paid back to investors, making the full loss amount about $2.2 million. According to the department, $900,000 was spent at casinos.

The department stated that the three counts of wire fraud are for specific transfers of funds from self-directed IRA accounts. The department said that the two counts of bank fraud are for depositing client checks into one of the shell corporation accounts.

The FBI is investigating the case, and it is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sean H. Waite.