Ex-LA County Social Worker Pleads Guilty To $2M Tax Fraud Scheme

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — A former Los Angeles County social worker pleaded guilty Thursday to using his indigent clients' personal information to file claims for nearly $2 million in refunds from the Internal Revenue Service.

Trang Van Dinh, 62, of Glendale, who worked as an eligibility worker and home interviewer for the Department of Public Social Services, was arrested in June at Los Angeles International Airport after returning from a trip to Vietnam, according to Thom Mrozek of the U.S. Attorney's Office.

A federal grand jury indicted Dinh last April 8, charging him with 11 counts of making false claims to the United States and 11 counts of identity theft. The charges cumulatively carry a maximum sentence of 220 years in federal prison, Mrozek said.

According to the plea agreement, Dinh used the names, Social Security numbers and other personal information of more than 150 indigent DPSS clients in his caseload to prepare bogus tax returns.

Dinh acknowledged filing the returns electronically and seeking to have refunds sent to bank accounts he controlled, according to court papers.

The fraudulent tax returns sought about $1.9 million in refunds from the IRS, which paid out $1 million on the fake claims, Mrozek said.

While bank officials were able to freeze some of the funds before they were withdrawn, the IRS estimates that Dinh managed to obtain about $650,000 in illicit refunds, according to court documents.

Dinh had worked for the DPSS for about a decade and was responsible for a large caseload of county residents seeking various forms of public assistance, Mrozek said.

Sentencing was set for June 27, prosecutors said.

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