SANTA ANA, California – Two Orange County tax preparers were arraigned today on federal charges alleging they participated in a scheme orchestrated by a corrupt social worker who stole his clients’ identities to fraudulently obtain tax refunds, welfare benefits and credit cards.
Anton Nguyen, 53, of Fountain Valley, and Rosemary Pham, 64, of Midway City, were summonsed to appear in United States District Court in Santa Ana, where this morning they pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges against them. A July 26 trial date has been scheduled for both defendants, who remain out of custody.
Nguyen and Pham were charged in separate indictments filed on May 11 with conspiracy to defraud the United States. Nguyen also is charged with three counts of making false claims against the United States for the payment of federal income tax refunds, and Pham additionally is charged with 10 counts of aiding and advising the filing of false tax returns.
Nguyen and Pham allegedly conspired with John Tran, who is believed to be either 56 or 60, of Fountain Valley, an Orange County Social Services Agency case worker from July 1994 to October 2018, who stole the Social Security numbers and other personal identifying information (PII) from his clients – many of them recent immigrants.
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...
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