{"id":52768,"date":"2023-04-10T16:18:50","date_gmt":"2023-04-10T23:18:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=52768"},"modified":"2023-04-10T16:18:50","modified_gmt":"2023-04-10T23:18:50","slug":"calif-tax-preparer-guilty-of-conspiring-with-social-worker-to-commit-tax-fraud-that-resulted-in-3-8-million-in-losses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=52768","title":{"rendered":"Calif. Tax Preparer Guilty of Conspiring with Social Worker to Commit Tax Fraud that Resulted in $3.8 Million in Losses"},"content":{"rendered":"

SANTA ANA, California\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"An Orange County tax preparer pleaded guilty Monday to a federal criminal charge of participating in schemes that caused nearly $3.8 million in losses to the United States government, officials stated.<\/span><\/p>\n

This included one orchestrated by a corrupt social worker who stole his clients\u2019 identities to fraudulently obtain tax refunds, welfare benefits, and credit cards, according to authorities.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anton Nguyen, 54, of Fountain Valley, plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the IRS.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 According to his plea agreement, Nguyen operated a Westminster-based tax preparation company called Century Tax & Travel. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"From 2012 to June 2019, Nguyen and his co-conspirators filed hundreds of tax returns using personal identifying information (PII) belonging to other individuals without permission to generate fraudulent tax refund payments from the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 One of Nguyen\u2019s co-conspirators was John Tran, who is believed to be either 57 or 61 years old, of Fountain Valley, an Orange County Social Services Agency case worker from July 1994 to October 2018.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tran stole the Social Security numbers and other personal identifying information (PII) from his clients \u2013 many recent immigrants, officials stated.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tran and his co-conspirators used this stolen information to fraudulently obtain money from the federal government, the State of California, the County of Orange, and financial institutions. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Nguyen used the stolen identities that Tran provided to create fraudulent Forms 1099-MISC that falsely showed payments made to the identity theft victims by companies, including those controlled by Tran and other accomplices.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nguyen prepared and filed federal income tax returns using the Tran-provided stolen identities, officials stated.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nguyen then used the purported payments on the fraudulent Forms 1099 as income to the identity theft victims, making them appear to qualify for tax credits, including the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In turn, the reported payments to the identity theft victims were used by Nguyen\u2019s clients to offset business revenues and reduce the taxes they owed by making it appear that the identity theft victims worked for them. In exchange for the fabrication of Form 1099, Nguyen\u2019s clients paid him a fee.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In total, Nguyen and his co-conspirators defrauded the United States out of at least $3,773,282.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 United States District Judge James V. Selna scheduled a July 24 sentencing hearing, at which time Nguyen will face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Federal prosecutors have secured a total of seven guilty pleas to criminal charges connected to this scheme.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tran pleaded guilty in November 2019 to conspiracy to defraud the United States, mail fraud and aggravated identity theft. <\/span><\/p>\n

Tran is scheduled to be sentenced on June 5, when he will face up to 72 years in federal prison.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Chau Nguyen, 69, of Garden Grove; Sophie Thuy Nguyen, 48, of Westminster; Kevin Le, 57, of Anaheim Hills; Van Quach, 43, of Monterey Park; and Peter Duc Nguyen, 63, of Garden Grove, each have pleaded guilty to evasion of assessment of taxes and are scheduled to be sentenced later this year.<\/span><\/p>\n

They will each face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thomas Nguyen, 62, of Santa Ana, pleaded guilty in June 2021 to one count of tax evasion. He was fined $30,000 and ordered to pay $133,796 in restitution.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rosemary Pham, 65, of Midway City, the owner, and operator of Victory Tax Service in Westminster, has pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and ten counts of aiding and advising the filing of false tax returns. <\/span><\/p>\n

Her trial date is scheduled for August 15.<\/span><\/p>\n

An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.<\/span><\/p>\n

IRS Criminal Investigation, with assistance from the Orange County District Attorney\u2019s Office, investigated this matter.<\/span><\/p>\n

Assistant United States Attorney Bradley E. Marrett of the Santa Ana Branch Office is prosecuting this case.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SANTA ANA, California\u00a0 An Orange County tax preparer pleaded guilty Monday to a federal criminal charge of participating in schemes that caused nearly $3.8 million in losses to the United States government,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1530,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nCalif. 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