FBI agent admits to racking up $41,000 in fraudulent expenses
By: Scott McCabe
Examiner Staff Writer
November 4, 2009
An FBI agent temporarily assigned to headquarters in downtown Washington faces up to five years in prison for forging bogus housing documents to collect more than $41,000.
Jeffrey B. Shim, 40, pleaded guilty Tuesday to a single count of making a false statement. His sentencing is set for Feb. 5, when in addition to the time behind bars, he faces three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
Shim has agreed to pay back the FBI $41,658.
Shim, who was based at the FBI's Newark, N.J., office, resigned last week as part of his plea agreement. He had been with the bureau since 2002. In May 2008, he was sent to work at the FBI headquarters on a temporary assignment.
In U.S. District Court in D.C. on Tuesday, Shim admitted that he lied when he claimed to be renting an apartment in Beltsville from May 2008 to July 2009, when he was actually staying at his home in the Paladin Terrace area in Olney. He and his wife bought that house in 2006, court document said.
Shim admitted that he drew up and submitted two fabricated rental agreements, according to court documents. Over a 15-month period, Shim said he forged the signature of a fictitious landlord on rental receipts for lodging reimbursement.
In all, Shim turned in 20 rental receipts with weekly rents of $1,400 or monthly amounts of $3,100. He received $41,700 from the false receipts, prosecutors said.
The irregularities of Shim's expenses were discovered by FBI internal controls that eventually led to a joint investigation by the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General and members of the FBI, prosecutors said.
