Sacramento man pleads guilty in identity theft scheme

Sacramento Bee
From Li Lou
September 9, 2009

A Sacramento man who was part of an international identity theft operation pleaded guilty to numerous felony charges in federal court, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday.

Tien Truong Nguyen, 30, admitted guilt to charges of conspiracy, access device fraud, aggravated identity theft, and being a felon in possession of a firearm,

The defendant, also known as Tim Nguyen, is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 19.

The conviction was the result of a joint investigation by the U.S. Secret Service, Placer County Sheriff's Office and Placer County District Attorney's Office.

Nguyen admitted being part of an international identity theft operation in which he used his computer to obtain credit and debit card numbers, social security numbers, e-mail addresses and other personal identification information from tens of thousands of victims.

The stolen information was provided to others who used it to obtain instant credit at Walmart stores throughout Northern California. Nguyen and his partners, including people in Romania, used the credit to purchase gift cards and merchandise valued at more than $200,000. They also used the information to create fraudulent credit cards and debit cards to make fraudulent purchases.

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