Hotel owner nabbed for $230K rubber checks

Police arrested the owner of Gold Beach Hotel in Garapan for allegedly issuing three bouncing checks amounting to $230,000 to the first owner of the hotel.

Joon Sung Kim, 34, president of Elysium Inc. that owns Gold Beach Hotel, was arrested for theft, theft by deception, and issuance of bad checks.

The Superior Court has imposed a $5,000 cash bail for Kim’s temporary liberty.

Police identified the victim as Seong Hyuk Seo, owner of a company in South Korea called Seong Hyuk Real Estate.

Detective Patrick Earl Maanao stated in his report that Kim owed the victim $550,000 when he purchased Gold Beach Hotel.

Maanao said that last month, Kim gave the victim three separate checks in the amount of $80,000; $80,000; and $70,000.

Maanao said that when the victim attempted to cash the three checks at the Bank of Hawaii on March 23, 2006, he learned that the account had been closed.