After failing to appear in the King County Superior Court for three felony charges of theft in the first degree and ten felony charges of theft in the second degree, Patrick Kim has been added to Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler’s insurance fraud most wanted list.

The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Kim following an investigation by CIU. Kim was working as an attorney and managing partner at United Law Firm in Bellevue.

The majority of his clients were part of the Korean community, and English was not their primary language. According to the Office of the Insurance Commissioner, Kim assisted his clients with negotiating personal injury settlements with insurance companies, and because the documents were in English, his clients trusted him to accurately explain the settlement documents.

The Office of the Insurance Commissioner stated that Kim used his position of trust to divert $1,828,018.09 from the insurance settlements that should have been disbursed to his clients.

Kim was disciplined by the Washington State Bar Association for violating the Rules of Public Conduct, according to the Office of the Insurance Commissioner. As a result, Kim surrendered his license to practice law and resigned from the Washington State Bar Association, who referred the case to CIU.

CIU investigates insurance frauds and works with the Washington State Patrol, as well as state and local prosecutors on criminal cases. According to the Office of the Insurance Commissioner, insurance fraud costs the average family $400 to $700 per year in increased premiums.