| For Immediate Release Case # 09HF1731
October 8, 2009 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Public Affairs Counsel Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
WOMAN CHARGED WITH STEALING OVER $77,000 FROM AT LEAST 26 VICTIMS IN
LOAN MODIFICATION SCAM
*Law enforcement is seeking potential additional victims
NEWPORT BEACH – A woman will be arraigned tomorrow for stealing over $77,000 from more than two dozen victims by claiming she could help them with loan modifications and then stealing the money they paid at her instruction up-front. Vickie Khanhvi Dang, 28, Huntington Beach, is charged with 27 felony counts of grand theft by false pretense, one felony count of dissuading a witness from reporting a crime, and five misdemeanor counts of the unauthorized practice of law. If convicted, she faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in state prison. Dang is out of custody on $100,000 bail and is scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow, Friday, Oct. 9, 2009, at 8:30 a.m. in Department H-1, Harbor Justice Center, Newport Beach.
Dang is accused operating a loan modification and debt consolidation business at 575 Anton Blvd., Ste. 440, Costa Mesa, under the business names The Gonzalez Law Group, JJ Gonzalez, Laurel Capital Group, Inc., Laurel Law Group, APC, Alliance Law Group, PLC, CALTEX Capital, Dinh Law Firm, and Dinh & Associates, PC.
Between Oct. 8, 2008, and March 7, 2009, Dang is accused of promoting her loan modification business on two local Vietnamese radio stations on a weekly basis. She is accused of claiming to do loan modifications, debt consolidations, and assist with bankruptcy and immigration issues in her radio advertisements.
Dang is accused of stealing over $77,000 from at least 26 victims. She is accused of requiring clients seeking loan modifications to pay advance fees for her services. Dang is accused of obtaining clients by promising to work on their behalf with banks and lending institutions to reduce the victim’s mortgage payments. She is accused of securing business by representing that she would refund clients’ payments to her if she was unable to make their mortgage payments more affordable. In some instances, Dang is accused of falsely representing herself as an attorney and advising some of her clients not to pay their mortgage.
The defendant is accused of failing to perform the services as promised or return the victims’ money, resulting in at least one victim losing their home. When one victim repeatedly attempted to contact Dang about getting their money back, Dang is accused of attempting to intimidate the victim by threatening to have him put in jail by calling the lenders and Federal Bureau of Investigation and stating that the victim was involved in fraud.
A warrant was issued for Dang’s arrest on Sept. 30, 2009, and the defendant turned herself in to the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach on Oct. 5, 2009. The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with additional information or who believes they have been a victim is encouraged to contact Costa Mesa Police Investigator Sheila Cannan at (714) 754-5294, or Supervising District Attorney Investigator Ron Frazier at (714) 347-8691.