Edmond man pleads guilty after filing fraudulent paycheck protection program loan application

Date: September 8, 2025

Contact: [email protected]

OKLAHOMA CITY - Russell Kim of Edmond, has pleaded guilty to making a false statement to a financial institution and money laundering, announced U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester.

According to public records, in 2020, Kim was the owner of R&D 2 Investment Group (R&D) in Oklahoma City. On April 3, 2020, Kim submitted an application for a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan, administered by the Small Business Administration, to support the ongoing operations of a restaurant operated by R&D. The PPP was a COVID-19 pandemic relief program that provided forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses. Court documents show R&D's restaurant had in fact closed in March 2020, and that Kim submitted payroll information for employees who no longer worked for R&D. As a result of Kim's false statement, the bank approved a PPP loan in the amount of $174,000. On August 12, 2025, Kim was charged by Information with making a false statement to a financial institution and money laundering.

On September 4, 2025, Kim pleaded guilty to the Information, and admitted he knowingly made a false statement to a bank in order to influence the bank to approve a PPP loan, and that he knowingly engaged in a monetary transaction of a value greater than $10,000 with funds derived from the unlawful activity of making a false statement on a PPP loan application.

At sentencing, Kim faces up to 40 years in federal prison, and fines of up to $1,250,000.

This case is the result of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation and the United States Secret Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Danielle London is prosecuting the case.

IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a 90% federal conviction rate. The agency has 19 field offices located across the U.S. and 14 attaché posts abroad.