A former Orange County social worker has been sentenced to more than four years in federal prison for orchestrating a $1 million scheme that involved using stolen Social Security numbers and other personal information to obtain fraudulent tax refunds, welfare benefits, and credit card purchases.
John Tran, a resident of Fountain Valley, has been ordered to serve 57 months in prison and pay approximately $1.1 million in restitution. He previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States, mail fraud, and aggravated identity theft, as stated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Tran, who worked for the Orange County Social Services Administration from 1994 to 2018, was accused by federal prosecutors of exploiting his position of public trust to steal personal information from clients of the agency, many of whom were recent immigrants to the United States.
According to prosecutors, Tran collaborated with two local tax preparers, Anton Nguyen and Rosemary Pham, to file 433 fraudulent tax returns using the stolen identities. This resulted in over $973,000 in government payments.
In addition, Tran and his co-defendants used the stolen identities to open fraudulent bank accounts, credit card accounts, and social services cases. The proceeds from their illegal activities were concealed and structured to avoid detection by law enforcement and banks.
One example cited by prosecutors involves Tran using a credit card account opened in someone else’s name to make purchases for skin care products, Costco, and sports gambling.
In another instance, Tran persuaded a recent immigrant client to allow him to open a credit card in their name and charge approximately $14,000 to the account. The client complied because they believed Tran had control over their Social Security benefits due to his position as a government official.
In total, prosecutors estimate that Tran obtained around $973,000 in fraudulent tax refunds, $44,000 from credit accounts, and $92,000 from the Orange County Social Services Administration.
Last month, Nguyen was sentenced to 41 months in prison, while Pham awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to federal charges.
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