Photo: ASIF HASSAN/AFP/Getty Images
An Orange County man admitted on Monday its attempt to obtain more than $1.2 million in economic benefits related to the COVID pandemic with the use of stolen identities.
The individual, A resident of the city of Santa Ana, acknowledged that he sought to use two dozen stolen identities to apply for COVID-related unemployment benefitsthus obtaining more than $400,000 from a government program during the coronavirus pandemic.
Nhan Hoang Pham, 36, pleaded guilty during a hearing in Santa Ana federal court.of a single felony wire fraud involving benefits related to a presidentially declared emergency, according to a statement from the US Attorney’s Office.
According to Pham’s plea agreement, from July 2020 to April 2021 he collected personally identifiable information from two dozen people he had never met.
With that information, which he obtained from residents of California, Texas, and Michigan, included their names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbersaccording to federal prosecutors.
Later, Pham crafted fraudulent applications that he submitted online to the California Employment Development Departmentseeking to obtain financial support that was to be delivered to those affected by the pandemic, according to their plea agreement.
Pham included in the requests an Anaheim mailing address that he controlled, prosecutors said, where the debit cards with the support resources were sent.
The prosecutors added that used the cards to withdraw money from ATMs throughout Orange County.
Pham’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 22.
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