Man Pleads Guilty To Taking $1.9 Million From Appalachian State University

Prosecutors say a man has pleaded guilty after they say he created a fake company and posed as a construction company worker to steal almost $2 million from a North Carolina university.

The U.S. Department of Justice says Ho Shin Lee of Los Angeles pleaded guilty in federal court to money laundering.

Prosecutors said Lee opened a bank account in 2016 in the name of a company of which he claimed to be president and sole account holder. That year, Appalachian State University awarded a contract to erect a new health sciences building.

A school employee received a fraudulent e-mail with instructions to change previously submitted banking information to Lee's new bank account. It's believed he transferred the $1.9 million to conceal it.

Lee pleaded guilty last Thursday.