Two Orange County, California, residents are facing federal charges in an identity theft scheme to steal more than $2 million, prosecutors said on Aug. 1.
Thao Thi Kim Nguyen, 47, of Garden Grove, and Nghiep Chinh Nguyen, 55, of Westminster, were released on bond following an arraignment on July 31 in federal court in Santa Ana, prosecutors said. They were charged in a grand jury indictment last week.
The two are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, with Thao Nguyen also charged with seven counts of bank fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft, and Nghiep Nguyen charged with two more counts of bank fraud and a count of aggravated identity theft.
Over four months in 2018, Thao Nguyen opened accounts in her name at two banks to use to deposit the stolen funds, prosecutors alleged.
Thao Nguyen, Nghiep Nguyen, and others went to the bank posing as victim homeowners claiming their identities were stolen, prosecutors said. They forged the signatures of the real homeowners to get cash-out mortgages on the properties, prosecutors alleged.
Counterfeit driver’s licenses and Social Security cards were used along with forged signatures in the alleged scheme, prosecutors said.
The indictment alleges they obtained $2,182,753 in the alleged scheme, prosecutors said.
