FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	Thursday, November 29, 2012
Docket #: 2:11-cr-543-MCE

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Thang Quoc Nguyen, 23, of Elk Grove, was sentenced today by Chief United States District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. to seven years and eight months in prison for three counts of credit card fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

In sentencing Nguyen, Judge England said that Nguyen’s extensive involvement in theft and fraud from a young age, combined with the amount of theft involved in the current case, led him to believe that a significant prison sentence was necessary.

According to court documents, Nguyen would fraudulently use credit cards issued to other people to make online purchases. Frequently he would purchase expensive items, list himself as authorized to make a third-party pickup of the merchandise, and take delivery of thousands of dollars’ worth of goods before the fraud was detected and the sales were cancelled. He also purchased vouchers for airline travel and would sell the vouchers for cash before the airlines discovered the fraud and cancelled the airline reservations, resulting in a loss to the consumers who had paid him cash for the vouchers. According to court documents, in the course of this scheme Nguyen attempted to make more than $787,000 in fraudulent purchases, using the identities of dozens of consumers and resulting in financial losses to more than 50 online businesses.

This case was the product of an investigation by the United States Secret Service. Assistant United States Attorney Matthew G. Morris prosecuted the case.

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