Indictment returned in alleged extortion of Dion’s husband

Erica D. Johnson

Friday, March 7, 2003 | 9:30 a.m.

A California couple accused of trying to extort Celine Dion's husband out of millions of dollars have been formally indicted on extortion charges.

The indictment was unsealed Wednesday before District Judge Gene Porter.

The document charges Yun Kyeong Sung, 47, and her husband, Ae Hoe Kwon, 50, with trying to extort Rene Angelil out of $13.5 million between November 2002 and January 2003.

Porter issued a warrant for the couple's arrest and ordered their bail be set at $100,000 each, once they are in custody.

Chief Deputy District Attorney L.J. O'Neale, who presented the indictment, declined to comment on the case.

Sung had accused Angelil of sexually assaulting her at the Imperial Palace in March 2000. Police closed the investigation without filing charges against Angelil.

Sung's attorney, Robert Langford, said he was planning to bring the couple back to Las Vegas from California to surrender to authorities today.

"I'm saddened that the Clark County district attorney's office has elected to proceed by secret indictment to continue this travesty of a prosecution," he said.

The couple in 2000 filed a civil suit against Angelil regarding the rape allegation. That case is pending, Langford said.

Representatives for Angelil could not immediately be reached for comment.

According to the indictment, the couple told Angelil's representatives they would "expose a purported secret" if Angelil did not pay them the money.

The indictment claims they threatened to give police physical evidence of the alleged act if Angelil didn't cooperate.

The indictment also alleges the couple made other threats, including approaching the media, writing a book and developing an Internet site publicizing their claims.

Sung currently faces multiple other charges in Clark County, in which she is accused of writing bad checks to casinos.

She is scheduled to stand trial on those charges March 31 before District Judge Michael Douglas.

"She's made each court appearance to fight these charges and we intend to fight them at every opportunity," Langford said of the bad check charges.