| For Immediate Release Case # 06HF1161
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ATTORNEY SENTENCED TO FOUR YEARS STATE PRISON FOR EMBEZZLING OVER $889,000 FROM KIA MOTORS AMERICA WITH WIFE AND HER BROTHER
SANTA ANA – An attorney was sentenced today to four years in state prison for embezzling over $889,000 from Kia Motors America with his wife and her brother. Mel Wayne Campbell, 56, pleaded guilty today to one felony count of receiving stolen property, three felony counts of money laundering, and sentencing enhancements and allegations for aggravated white collar crime over $500,000, property damage over $150,000, and causing loss over $100,000.
Mel Campbell’s ex-wife, Cecile Nhung Campbell, 55, a Certified Public Accountant, pleaded guilty Oct. 31, 2008, to one felony count of grand theft, one felony count of receiving stolen property, three felony counts of computer access and fraud, three felony counts of money laundering, one felony count of filing false tax returns, and sentencing enhancements and allegations for aggravated white collar crime over $500,000, property damage over $150,000, and causing loss over $100,000. Cecile Campbell faces a maximum sentence of 16 years and eight months in state prison at her sentencing on June 25, 2010, at 9:00 a.m. in Department C-34, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
Cecile Campbell’s brother, Long Ngoc Ho, 50, pleaded guilty Aug. 10, 2007, to one felony count of grand theft, three felony counts of money laundering, and sentencing enhancements and allegations for aggravated white collar crime over $500,000, property damage over $150,000, and causing loss over $100,000. Ho faces a maximum sentence of 12 years in state prison at her sentencing on June 25, 2010, at 9:00 a.m. in Department C-34, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
In 2002, Cecile Campbell worked in the accounting department of KIA Motors America. On three occasions between May and July 2002, Cecile Campbell made three high-dollar wire transfers totaling over $889,000 to a Wells Fargo account. The account was opened by Ho under the fictitious business name U.S. Customs Service Detail. Ho created this account to resemble the legitimate federal United States Customs Service, which collects import duties on shipments of automobiles that arrive in the United States.
Mel and Cecile Campbell laundered the stolen money into personal accounts and used the embezzled funds to pay off the lines of credit on the Campbell’s house, which they had maxed out for the full value of the credit line and used for personal expenses. They repeated this fraudulent scam four times.
KIA Motors America discovered the theft and reported it to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Mel Campbell was arrested June 21, 2006 at his home in Laguna Niguel. Ho was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport on June 21, 2006, while trying to re-enter the United States from Vietnam. Cecile Campbell turned herself in on June 22, 2006. Mel and Cecile Campbell were married at the time of the crime but have since divorced.
This case was investigated by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, FBI, and California Franchise Tax Board. Deputy District Attorney Marc Labreche of the Major Fraud Unit prosecuted this case.