Bergen Man Accused Of Embezzling $1.6 Million: Prosecutor

FORT LEE, N.J. - A Bergen County man is accused of embezzling $1.6 million from a Fort Lee fashion company over five years and using money to pay his mortgage and other personal expenses, said Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal.

Pyong Hyun “Brandon” Yoon, 40, of Edgewater, was arrested after members of the prosecutor’s office and Fort Lee Police Department investigated an embezzlement complaint from Southpole/Wicked Fashions Inc., Grewal said. Yoon was an accountant with the company until last December.

Yoon was responsible for overseeing an expense account and making journal entries and reconciling the account, Grewal said.

Between 2011 and 2016, Yoon allegedly accessed the funds through the company’s online and mobile banking platforms and used them to pay for mortgage, car lease, rent, and credit card bills, Grewal said. Yoon allegedly falsified his journal entries.

Yoon allegedly continued to access the account and make illicit payments even after he left the company, the prosecutor said.

Bergen County Central Municipal Court issued a warrant for Yoon’s arrest Friday; detectives from the prosecutor’s office and Fort Lee police and Edgewater police departments arrested Yoon at his home, Grewal said.

Yoon was charged with computer related theft in excess of $250,000, a first-degree crime and theft by deception in excess of $75,000, a second-degree charge.

Yoon was remanded to the Bergen County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail with no 1- percent option, authorities said.

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Pictured: Pyong Hyun “Brandon” Yoon, 40/Bergen County Prosecutor's Office