{"id":53896,"date":"2023-08-21T14:59:30","date_gmt":"2023-08-21T21:59:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=53896"},"modified":"2023-08-21T15:06:03","modified_gmt":"2023-08-21T22:06:03","slug":"calif-tax-preparer-sentence-to-over-three-years-in-prison-for-being-involved-in-a-long-running-fraud-led-by-a-social-worker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=53896","title":{"rendered":"Calif. Tax Preparer Sentenced to Over Three Years in Prison for Being Involved in a Long-Running Fraud Led By a Social Worker"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0SANTA ANA, California<\/i><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Officials stated that the owner of a Westminster-based tax preparation business was sentenced Monday to three years and five months in federal prison for his involvement in a tax scheme.<\/span><\/p>\n

The scheme was 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

U.S. District Judge James V. Selna sentenced Anton Nguyen, 54, of Fountain Valley. The judge also ordered him to pay $3.7 million in restitution.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \"\" Nguyen pleaded guilty on April 10 to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nguyen conspired with John Tran, who is believed to be either 57 or 61, 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.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"white<\/p>\n

From August 2010 to June 2019, Tran and his co-conspirators used the stolen information to fraudulently obtain money from the federal government, the State of California, the County of Orange and financial institutions.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 During this time, Nguyen owned and operated Century Travel & Tax, a tax preparation company based in Westminster. <\/span><\/p>\n

Nguyen joined the conspiracy in 2012 and used the Tran-provided stolen identities to create fraudulent Forms 1099-MISC purporting to show payments made to the identity theft victims by companies, including those controlled by Tran and other co-conspirators, officials stated.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"He also helped his accomplices set up shell companies to promote the scheme.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

He also used the purported payments on the fraudulent Forms 1099 as income to the identify 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 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. <\/span><\/p>\n

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 Tran and his co-conspirators filed 433 tax returns using PII belonging to other individuals, generating at least $973,153 in fraudulently obtained tax refund payments from the IRS.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In total, Nguyen, aided by accomplices, defrauded the United States from paying at least $3,773,282 in taxes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThis was an appreciably sophisticated tax evasion scheme, involving the theft and improper use of PII by a civil servant to generate fraudulent deductions for businesses,\u201d prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. \u201cFor the scheme to succeed, tax preparers, like [Nguyen], were essential.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As for other defendants charged in connection with this conspiracy:<\/span><\/p>\n