Prince George’s County Liquor Board officials, David Dae Sok Son, age 40, of Bowie, Maryland, and Anuj Sud, age 39, of Hyattsville, Maryland, and Prince George’s County business owners, Young Jung Paig, age 62, of Beltsville, Maryland, and Shin Ja Lee, age 55, of Landover, Maryland, are charged by criminal complaints with a bribery conspiracy. The defendants allegedly conspired to engage in bribery in order to influence public officials in the performance of their official duties in Prince George’s County. Son, Paig, and Lee are also charged with a bribery conspiracy to influence the State of Maryland.
The charges were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Thomas Jankowski of the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, Washington, D.C. Field Office; and Chief Hank Stawinski of the Prince George’s County Police Department.
“The defendants allegedly paid cash bribes to state and local officials in Prince George’s County in return for favorable action concerning liquor licenses,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. “Our government is not supposed to work that way.”
“Public corruption is a betrayal of trust and erodes the very core of the government’s purpose to serve the people,” said Special Agent Gordon B. Johnson of the FBI’s Baltimore Division.
Son currently is Director of the Prince George’s County Board of License Commissioners (Liquor Board). Son previously was a Commissioner on the Liquor Board from 2005 through 2014. During the 2015 Maryland legislative session, Son served as a liaison for the Prince George’s County Senate delegation. He returned to the Liquor Board later in 2015 as its Director.
Sud is a current Liquor Board Commissioner and has been a licensed attorney in Maryland since 2005, with offices in College Park.
Paig is the owner of Central Avenue Restaurant & Liquor Store and the resident agent of Weeping Willow, Inc.; and Lee is the owner of Palmer Liquor Store and the resident agent of Multi-Bil, Inc. Both stores are located in Prince George’s County, Maryland.
Click here to read the rest of the report over at Justice.gov