| For Immediate Release March 5th, 2004 |
Contact: | Mark Sevigny Deputy District Attorney (714) 347-8704 |
TWO MEN SENTENCED TO STATE PRISON FOR STEALING IDENTITY AND ACCOUNT INFORMATION FOR OVER 740 BANK OF AMERICA CUSTOMERS
Santa Ana – Liem Cao Pham, 28, of Santa Ana and Vincent Vu Nguyen, 27, of Fountain Valley were sentenced to state prison this morning for stealing the identity and credit information for more than 740 Bank of America customers. Pham pled guilty, in September of 2003, to seven (7) felony counts of conspiracy, possession of counterfeit California driver licenses, identity theft, grand theft, unlawful acquisition of credit cards and financial account information, and unlawfully obtaining computer records. Pham was sentenced to seven (7) years in state prison. Nguyen pled guilty, in September of 2003, to four (4) felony counts of conspiracy, possession of counterfeit California driver licenses, identity theft, and grand theft. Nguyen was sentenced to three (3) years in state prison. In addition, Pham and Nguyen repaid Bank of America $240,000 in restitution.
The account information was stolen by Nguyen while he was an employee of Bank of America in 2001. The stolen information was then used by Pham and Nguyen or sold to other individuals to fraudulently purchase goods, cash forged checks in the accountholders’ name, and to obtain credit cards in the accountholders’ name. Some of the stolen information was used to cash forged checks or to fraudulently obtain goods and services as far away as Florida and Tennessee. Most of the account information stolen by Nguyen related to Bank of America accountholders outside of Orange County. The total loss for Orange County accountholders was approximately $232,000.
Liem Cao Pham and Vincent Vu Nguyen were sentenced today by Judge Mark Kelly, in department C55, in Orange County Superior Court.