Martial Art Instructor Charged and Arrested For Trademark Counterfeiting

New York State

New York martial art instructor Sung Yoon had engaged in trademark counterfeiting and distribution of trademark counterfeited rank certificates for quite some time without being detected.

He issued certificates to his students bearing registered trademarks affixed without a license from the trademark owners.  His students trusted him and believed him until an instructor contacted one of the organizations they had received rank certificates from to confirm that their rank certificate was legitimate; however, it was not.

Sung Yoon had counterfeited rank certificates of the U.S. Soo Bahk Do Moo Duk Kwan Federation and awarded them to his students bearing the federally registered Moo Duk Kwan® trademark and the federally registered Moo Duk Kwan fist logo.

When Yoon's students realized their certificates were counterfeits and that they had been defrauded, they sought justice through the Orange County District Attorney's Office.

New York Assistant District Attorney Jamie Ferrara subpoened Phil Duncan, the Executive Administrator of the U.S. Soo Bahk Do Moo Duk Kwan Federation to testify before a grand jury regarding the counterfeited and forged martial art rank certificates bearing trademarks of the U.S. Soo Bahk Do Moo Duk Kwan Federation.

The Orange County grand jury returned an indictment for all the charges shown in the screen shot below. Sung Yoon was subsequently arrested in Kansas and extradicted back to New York to face the charges.

The Martial Art Fraud website provides direct links to a number of different reporting agencies dedicated to protecting consumers from fraud and criminal activity. If you discover these illegal activities taking place in your community we encourage you to report them.

The Martial Art Fraud website provides information intended to help you proactively 1) recognize and identify circumstances with a high potential for you to become a victim of fraud, 2) verify factual evidence of fraud and 3) report evidence of fraud to appropriate agencies and authorities. Disclaimer