Fugitive in Games scandal arrested

The son of a powerful International Olympic Committee member from South Korea is being held in Bulgaria on charges connected to the Salt Lake Olympic bid scandal, according to a report today on National Public Radio.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced in September 1999 that John Kim had been indicted on felony charges of lying to federal investigators and using a fraudulently obtained green card to enter the United States.

Kim, who had what federal investigators labeled a "sham job" in Utah, created by a local businessman and funded by the Salt Lake Bid Committee, was in South Korea when the charges were filed. He has declined to return to the United States to face them.

Bryan Sierra, a spokesman for the Justice Department, declined to confirm the arrest, but said the government "would welcome any opportunity to return Mr. Kim to the U.S. to face charges."

Sierra said the United States had requested "a provisional arrest through Interpol based on the charges that were filed in the Eastern District of New York and in Utah." He said he believes that the United States has an extradition agreement with Bulgaria.

Howard Berkes of NPR reported today that a spokeswoman at the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry confirmed that Kim was arrested Sunday at the Sofia airport. Kim has been on Interpol's watch list for three years.

Kim is one of five people charged in the scandal surrounding the more than $1 million in cash and gifts given to IOC members to woo their votes for Salt Lake City during the competition for the 2002 Winter Games.

The businessman who hired Kim, David Simmons, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor tax violation that stemmed from hiring Kim and agreed to cooperate with the government. A former U.S. Olympic Committee official, Alfredo LaMont, also pleaded guilty to tax charges.

Salt Lake bid leaders Tom Welch and Dave Johnson are set to go to trial later this year on conspiracy, fraud and racketeering charges. A federal judge in Utah had dismissed the felony charges, but they were reinstated by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in April.

Kim is the son of Un Yong Kim, considered one of the most powerful members of the IOC. Kim ran unsuccessfully for the IOC presidency, losing the race after promising members that if he was elected they would receive an annual stipend of $50,000 apiece.

The Kim family spokesman in New York City, Bill Schechter, was not immediately available for comment. Nor was the family's U.S. lawyer. When John Kim was implicated in the scandal, he sued Simmons for defamation in a South Korean court.

He also released a statement through Schechter at that time that said he's been promised his "immigration needs would be fully satisfied by influential and high officials, most especially Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah."

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