Two Orange County residents were charged with a $2.2 million scheme to steal the identities of elderly Vietnamese American homeowners and duping banks into cashing out mortgages on their homes.
Thao Thi Kim Nguyen, 47, of Garden Grove, and Nghiep Chinh Nguyen, 55, of Westminster, pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, the Orange County Register reported.
If convicted, the defendants could face 30 years in federal prison for each conspiracy and fraud charge and two years for each aggravated identity theft charge. A trial is set for Sept. 26.
A federal indictment alleges that for four months in 2018, Thao Nguyen and Nghiep Nguyen stole an unspecified number of homeowners’ identities and convinced banks into issuing cash-out mortgages on those properties, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors said that as part of the scheme, Thao Nguyen would visit two banks where she had accounts, accompanied by Nghiep Nguyen and other co-conspirators.
They then allegedly posed as the victim homeowners — whose identities they had stolen — and forged the victims’ signatures to fraudulently obtain cash-out mortgages on the victim-owned properties, which otherwise were unencumbered, prosecutors said.
Nghiep Nguyen allegedly used counterfeit California driver’s licenses and Social Security cards containing the victims’ names, according to the indictment. They then forged the victims’ signatures on documents, including bank and mortgage forms, plus deeds for the victims’ real estate properties.
In at least one case, Thao Nguyen told bank clerks the victims were her parents, prosecutors said. The Nguyens targeted mainly elderly Vietnamese Americans and defrauded them of $2.182 million, according to the indictment.
— Dana Bartholomew