| For Immediate Release Case # 10WF2396 April 27, 2011 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
FORMER BOOKKEEPER SENTENCED TO FOUR YEARS IN PRISON FOR EMBEZZLING OVER $448,000 FROM WESTMINSTER SUPERMARKET CHAIN IN FRAUDULENT REFUND SCHEME
WESTMINSTER – A bookkeeper was sentenced yesterday to four years in state prison for embezzling over $448,000 from a Westminster supermarket chain by processing over 170 fraudulent refund transactions to his personal account and the accounts of two friends. Tan Dung Tang, 29, Westminster, pleaded guilty to the court April 26, 2011, to four felony counts of computer access and fraud with a sentencing enhancement for aggravated white collar crime over $100,000. In addition to four years in state prison, Tang was ordered to pay $448,000 in restitution.
Co-defendant Chau Lee, 33, Garden Grove, pleaded guilty to the court March 11, 2011, to three felony counts of computer access and fraud and was sentenced to two years in state prison. He was also ordered to pay $448,000 in restitution. Both Tang and Lee are responsible for the same $448,000 restitution, which can be paid either by one or both of the defendants.
Co-defendant Tin Hung Do, 30, Anaheim, pleaded guilty Feb. 25, 2011, to one misdemeanor count of computer access and fraud and was sentenced to one year of formal probation and ordered to pay $9,700 in restitution.
Tang was a longtime bookkeeper for Westminster Superstores, a grocery store chain in Westminster. Between December 2006 and November 2009, Tang used his access to the business’ finances to illegally process 171 fraudulent refunds amounting to almost $2,900 each to his personal bank accounts and credit cards, as well as to the accounts of his friends, Lee and Do.
Over the course of three years, Tang fraudulently obtained over $243,000 in his personal accounts. Lee obtained over $195,000 and Do fraudulently obtained over $9,700. The three defendants stole approximately $448,000 in all.
The theft was discovered in November 2009 after Westminster Superstores was alerted to the large number of suspicious transactions by the bank. The case was reported to and investigated by the Westminster Police Department.
Deputy District Attorney Sean O’Brien of the White Collar Crime Team prosecuted this case.
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