Costa Mesa Resident Guilty of Identity Fraud
Hung Van Tieu, 62 of Costa Mesa was convicted of identity theft and other related federal criminal charges stemming from a scheme to defraud the Vietnamese community. Tieu was convicted by a jury on two counts of credit card fraud and aggravated identity theft. Tieu faces up to 32 years in federal prison at sentencing.
The evidence presented at trial showed Tieu and several other co-conspirators phoned credit card issuers impersonating the cardholder and asked the companies to send replacement cards to the victim's real address. The cards were then intercepted prior to delivery.
Defendant Tieu used the cards to withdraw thousands of dollars at Las Vegas casinos, purchase luxury items such as a Rolex watch, Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Burberry. Tieu was also convicted out of Riverside County for the same conduct and sentenced to 16 months state prison.
