Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Alexandria Division
TAESAN WON,
Defendant.
I. INTRODUCTION
Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") assigned to the Washington D.C. Field Office. I
have been a Special Agent for ICE for approximately two years. I am assigned to the
completed the Criminal Investigator Training Program and the Immigration and Customs Agent
Training Program at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynn County, Georgia. In
addition, I graduated from the American University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in
International Studies.
charging defendant Taesan Won with concealing, harboring, and shielding from detection an
alien in any place, including any building and any means of transportation, knowing and in
reckless disregard of the fact that the alien has come to, entered, and remained in the United
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States in violation of law, for the purpose of commercial advantage and private financial gain, in
cause and is based on my personal observations during the course of this investigation,
documents, and other physical evidence obtained during this investigation. This affidavit does
not include each and every fact observed by me or known by the government.
II. BACKGROUND
4. This case resulted in part from information received from a cooperating source
that I have utilized in the past. The cooperating source has provided me with credible
information in the past. According to the source, defendant Taesan Won ("Won") was operating
a "doumi" business in Fairfax, Virginia known as "Honey." According to Won, he and the
cooperating source were friends and at some point had a sexual relationship. Since then,
5. I have been advised that the term "doumi" (or "dowoomi") means "helper" in the
Korean language. Based on my experience, I know that, in the context of nightlife within the
Korean community, a doumi refers to a woman who provides outcall companionship service to
customers at businesses, such as karaoke clubs and bars. "Doumi girls" generally work for a
doumi company (sometimes just one man). Doumi companies frequently employ multiple
women. The "doumi girls" usually wait in apartments until their supervisors receive telephone
calls requesting the doumi women. Based on my experience, when a customer at a Korean
the business) may call a doumi company and request that the company send doumi girls to that
business. Once at the business, the doumi girls may sing for, dance with, flirt with, pour drinks
for, and entertain the paying customer. In my investigation I have learned that these doumi girls
6. Won is a citizen and national of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) and is
unlawfully present in the United States. On August 18,2010, the U.S. Department of State
issued Won a nonimmigrant B1/B2 tourist visa. Won subsequently entered the United States on
September 2,2010. The Department of Homeland Security granted Won admission to the
United States until March 1, 2011. On or about March 18,2011, Won filed a Form 1-539
application with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to extend and/or change his
nonimmigrant status from a B1/B2 visitor to a nonimmigrant F-l student. Won does not have
valid work authorization in the United States and, because he was operating a business in the
United States, he was in violation of the terms of his admission to the United States. Won is
currentlyin ICE administrative custody pending removal to South Korea, but prior to that he
speak with me in order to provide information regarding several "doumi" companies that were
operating in Annandale, Virginia. Won advised the source that his competitors were using illegal
alien labor, and Won hoped that his information would spur ICE to pursue Won's competitors.
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(a) His friend, Myungsoo Kim ("Kim"), first approached him about
establishing a doumi company in April of 2010. Further, Kim advised Won that the
"www.daum.net."
(b) Kim was also the manager of another doumi company known as "A-
Plus." Kim had ten women working for him at A-Plus and that a majority of the
women were from Korea. One woman, "Tami," was from Canada. Tami was in the
(c) Other women who worked for A-Plus entered the United States on
(d) Local Korean bars were able to contact him through weekly
eight to nine doumi companies operating in Annandale, Virginia and that a few ofthe
(e) Around 7:00 P.M. each evening, business owners would call Won and
request doumi women. Won would then typically transport the doumi women to the
requested locations. The majority of the women would meet customers at a local
(f) A customer was typicallycharged $70 per hour to converse with, sing,
and dance with the doumi woman. Typically, the doumi woman would get $50 and
(g) While working for A-Plus, Won could "sense" when people were
"illegal," and he overheard a few ofthe men who worked for A-Plus stating that two
of the doumi women did not have visas. In addition, Kim once advised Won that the
10. At the end of the interview, Won also requested a U.S. Alien Registration Card for
11. Around February 2011, the cooperating source discussed above advised me that
she had a roommate that was employed by a doumi company in Annandale, Virginia and that this
12. On February 22,2011, ICE Special Agents and an officer from the Fairfax County
13. According to Lee, she previously resided at an apartment located at 3276 Gallows
Road, Fairfax, Virginia. As mentioned above in paragraph 6, this is the same address where
(a) She entered the United States under the Visa Waiver Program in
December 2010;
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(b) She knew that under the terms of the Visa Waiver Program she was
(c) On the Internet, she saw an advertisement for women to work for a
(f) Also living at 3276 Gallows Road were other women who worked
for Romance, women who worked for a doumi company known as "Honey," and
(g) A number of the women who resided at 3276 Gallows Road and
who worked for Romance were admitted to the United States on student visas.
15. On April 25,2011,1 spoke with the cooperating source, discussed above, who
previously was a friend of Won. The cooperating source informed me that she was also
acquainted with a number of women who previously worked for Won and who were
unauthorized to work in the United States. The cooperating source identified these individuals
as:
16. On March 31,2011,1 and other law enforcement personnel encountered Taesan
Won at his residence located at 3276 Gallows Road, Fairfax, Virginia. In both the Korean
language and the English language, Won provided verbal consent to enter the residence and
speak to him. Won invited us to speak to him in a bedroom on the second floor of the residence,
so that we could speak in private. Won was not in custodyat this time.
17. Through a Korean linguist, Won advised me that he currently has three Korean
women working for his business, known as "Honey." Won stated that he was earning
18. Won stated that the two South Korean women encountered that I also encountered
at Won'sapartment that day were employees of Honey. One of the Korean females, later
identified as "Jeongae Lee," arrived in the United States under the U.S. Visa Waiver Program.
The other Korean female, later identified as "Sora Lee," also entered the United States under the
Visa Waiver program. When these women claimed that theydid not work for Won, Won stated
that the women were scared and probably would not admit that they worked for him.
19. Under the terms of the U.S. Visa Waiver Program, persons granted admission to
the United States are not permitted to work in the United States.
20. Won stated that he did not pay the women directly; rather, the customers paid the
women cash.
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21. Won stated that he charged customers $70 per hour and that the women would
then pay him $20 from the $70 paid by customers. Won stated that this was the first time that
both Jeongae Lee and Sora Lee worked for him in the United States.
22. Won indicated that both Jeongae Lee and Sora Lee were paying him
approximately$100 per week in rent and that one of the women arrived in the United States
23. Won stated that he knew that both Jeongae Lee and Sora Lee were not permitted
24. Won advised ICE Special Agents that he did not have Jeongae Lee or Sora Lee fill
out a DHS Form 1-9 (the Employment Eligibility Verification Form which employers must have
their employees complete to verify their eligibility to work in the United States), and that he did
not ask Jeongae Lee or Sora Lee to present any identification documents before they began
working.
25. Won was then administratively arrested pursuant to the Immigration and
Nationality Act because he was not lawfully present in the United States. ICE agents transported
Won to the Washington, D.C. Field Office in Fairfax, Virginia for administrative processing.
26. While in ICE administrative custody, Won orally was advised of his Miranda
rights both in the English language and the Korean Language. Won waived his Miranda rights
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Jeongae Lee and Sora Lee—had worked for him for only a short time.
(f) He did not instruct the workers to have sex with male customers.
29. Won was again advised of his Miranda rights in the Korean Language. Won
again waived his Miranda rights in the Korean language, and agreed to be interviewed.
30. Won stated that he filed his nonimmigrant visa application in and around July or
August of 2010 with the United States Embassy in Seoul, South Korea. Won stated that, when
meeting with the U.S. Consular Officer, he (Won)advisedthe ConsularOfficer that he would be
traveling to the United States in order to develop a franchise for his Korean advertising company
known as "Hangwoong Company." Won admitted that this statement to the Consular Officer
was false.
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31. Won also told the U.S. Consular Officer that he wanted to establish branches in
the United States and that he wanted to research the United States advertising market. Won
stated that he knew that this statement to the Consular Officer was false and that he intentionally
lied to the Consular Officer in order to obtain his nonimmigrant B1/B2 tourist visa.
32. Won stated that he traveled to the United States using his nonimmigrant B1/B2
tourist visa. Won related that, after he was in the United States more than three months, he was
having a difficulttime generatingincome. At that point, Won stated that he established a doumi
33. Won related that when he previously visited the United States earlier in 2010, he
met a friend of his from Korea known as "Myungsoo Kim." Won and Myungsoo Kim had
34. Won stated that when A-Plus started operating, he and Kim had one female
working for them. Won stated that the Korean female entered the United States under the U.S.
Visa Waiver Program. Won indicated that he and Kim found other women who were willing to
work for them and that they later established a "sook-so" or "housing dormitory" located in the
35. Won stated that when he resided at the apartment located in the Lafayette Forest
Communityof Annandale, Virginia, two of the women residing with him entered the United
States pursuant to the U.S. Visa Waiver Program, and three other women living there were
present in the United States pursuant to student visas. Won stated that the aforementioned
women paid Won and Myungsoo Kim rent of approximately $100 per week.
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36. Won stated that Kim advertised the business by listing the company name along
37. Won stated that he resided at the apartment located at 3276 Gallows Road, in
Fairfax, Virginia since December 2010. Won stated that four to five women who previously
worked for him are now residing in different apartments located in Annandale, Virginia.
38. Won related that most of the women who worked for him in the past were United
States citizens or lawful permanent residents, but that at least one woman possessed only a U.S.
student visa, and another woman entered the United States through the U.S. Visa Waiver
Program.
39. Won admitted that he knew that a person who entered the United States under the
Visa Waiver Program or with a student visa could not lawfully work in the United States.
40. Won stated that, on several occasions, he transported Korean women from the
Dulles International Airport. Won stated that the women he transported from the airport worked
either for Honey or for A-Plus. Won stated that he transported from the Dulles International
Airport seven to eight Korean women, who were admitted to the United Sates using student or
tourists visas, or who entered under the Visa Waiver Program, and thus were not authorized to
41. Won related that he would advertise for Korean workers by posting Korean-
language advertisements on various Korean message boards on the Internet, which would include
Won's telephone number. Korean woman interested in working for him would call him from
Korea and Won would make flight arrangements for them to come to the United States.
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V. CONCLUSION
42. Based on the above-described facts, I respectfully submit that there is probable
cause to believe that, from in and around October 2010 to on or about March 31, 2011, in Fairfax
County, Virginia, within the Eastern District of Virginia, and elsewhere, defendant Taesan Won,
for the purpose of commercial advantage and private financial gain, knowing and in reckless
disregard that an alien had come to, entered, and remained in the United States in violation of
law, did conceal, harbor, and shield from detection, and did attempt to conceal, harbor, and
shield from detection, such alien in any place, including any building and any means of
transportation, in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Sections 1324(a)(l)(A)(iii) and (B)(i).
Carl R. Stiffler
Special Agent
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
JsL
Ivan D. Davis
United States Magistrate Judge
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