Anton Nguyen, of Fountain Valley, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. Those schemes included using stolen identifies to obtain tax refunds, welfare benefits and credit cards.

Identifies were stolen by co-conspirators including John Tran, also of Fountain Valley, who used his position as an Orange County Social Services Agency case worker to steal Social Security numbers and other personal identifying information from clients.

Nguyen operated a Westminster-based tax preparation company, Century Tax & Travel from 2012 to June 2019.  He filed hundreds of tax returns using stolen identities, creating Forms 1099-MISC that showed bogus payments to the identity theft victims by companies, including those controlled by Tran and other accomplices.

 Nguyen used the purported payments reported on the 1099s as income to theft victims, making them appear to qualify for tax credits, including the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit.

In turn, the payments were used by Nguyen's clients to offset business revenues and reduce the taxes they owed by making it appear that the identity theft victims worked for them. Nguyen's clients paid him for fabricating the 1099s.