Prosecutors said Daekun Cho demanded"protection" money from karaoke businesses in Koreatown.A 39-year-old Woodland Hills man was found guilty Tuesday of dozens of felonies for extorting Koreatown karaoke companies and sometimes violently attacking victims who refused to pay, including carjacking one of them after beating him with a baseball bat.
According to evidence presented at a five-day trial, from at least November 2020 to March 2023, Cho demanded "protection" money from karaoke businesses in Koreatown, as well as from drivers of "doumis" -- or hostesses - - employed by patrons of the establishments. "This defendant carried out his shakedown operation for years by preying on an immigrant community and intimidating his victims into silence," U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement. "Today's verdict sends a message that we are focused on rooting out violent actors and holding them accountable for their actions."
During a separate incident in July 2022, a different victim was dropping two doumis off at a karaoke bar in Koreatown when Cho -- who appeared to have something in his hoodie pocket -- approached the victim's car, opened the door with his sleeve so as to not leave fingerprints, got halfway inside the vehicle, and told the victim that the victim's company was not permitted to drop off doumis.