“Local, state and federal investigators will continue to pursue those who used fraudulent means to obtain unemployment insurance benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic and anyone else who steals from public funds.” – CSLEA President Alan Barcelona

SANTA ANA– On May 22, 2023, Nhan Hoang Pham, 37, of Santa Ana was sentenced to 84 months in federal prison for fraudulently applying for more than $1.2 million in COVID-19 pandemic unemployment insurance (UI) benefits – and receiving more than $400,000 of the same – by using the stolen identities of two dozen victims.  He was also ordered him to pay $408,496 in restitution.

Pham pleaded guilty on January 23 to one count of wire fraud in relation to benefits connected to a presidentially declared emergency.

From July 2020 to April 2021, Pham acquired without authorization or permission the personal identifying information (PII) – including names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers – of people living in California, Texas and Michigan, people he had never met.

Pham then created and submitted fraudulent online applications to the California Employment Development Department (EDD), which administers the state’s unemployment insurance program. Pham’s fraudulent applications sought federally funded pandemic benefits intended for the jobless and represented that the victims whose PII was unlawfully used received mail at Anaheim addresses that, in fact, Pham controlled.

Upon receipt of the applications, EDD transmitted the claimant information to Bank of America, which caused the issuance and mailing of debit cards to Anaheim addresses that Pham controlled.

Pham then took the fraudulently obtained debit cards and used them to withdraw money at ATMs throughout Orange County.