Suspects in Credit Card Scam Plead Not Guilty : Courts: The 17 arrested last week, most from O.C., are accused of bilking as much as $40 million from banks.

The 17 suspects arrested so far in one of the nation’s largest busts of credit card fraud pleaded not guilty Monday to charges that they helped to bilk $40 million from financial institutions across the country.

The two rings, based in Orange County’s Little Saigon area, were shut down in raids Thursday as law enforcement authorities confiscated hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of gold bullion, jewelry, cash and such big-ticket electronic goods as large-screen televisions.

So-called bust-out schemes have cost financial institutions about $100 million, authorities said, and most of them are believed to have originated in Orange County’s Vietnamese community.

All but two suspects were held because they couldn’t post bond or because they were considered flight risks by Magistrate Judge Carolyn Turchin. She set separate trial dates for them beginning in late January.

Among those not released were suspects that federal authorities consider to be ringleaders. Minh C. “Big Ming” To, 30, of Huntington Beach couldn’t post bail of $250,000, and his wife, Nina Nguyen To, 28, was detained without bail. Hai Phuoc Nguyen of Garden Grove was held on $100,000 bond.

The To couple ran VNK Professional Services in Westminster in one of the older sections of Little Saigon. Hai Nguyen, no relation to Nina Nguyen, operated mainly out of his car, authorities said.

They are accused of defrauding about 120 banks and other financial institutions in a scheme that took advantage of temporary credit established when payments are made to credit card accounts.

By overpaying credit card bills dramatically--by $20,000 or more--cardholders created temporary credit for three or four days until their checks were returned for insufficient funds. During that period, they charged expensive purchases, took large cash advances and sometimes traveled as far away as Asia. They then sought to erase their debts in bankruptcy.

Authorities said one of the suspects arrested was misidentified last week as Chuong Duc Truong. They said they have since learned that his real name is Then Bui, and that he was using an alias.

Bui remained in the U.S. Metropolitan Detention Center after his arraignment Monday, as did Nam Dinh Duong, 35, of Midway City; Kelvin Quang Vu, 38, John Van Nguyen, 46, Hugh Van Nguyen, 38, and Tam Vu, 41, all of Westminster; Kim Nguyen, 45, of Anaheim; Lan Diep, 35, of Lakewood; Madeline LeConte, 23, of Arleta; Michael Hung Phu Le, 36, of Ontario; Trung Duc Tran of Los Angeles; and Peter Van Quach, 43, of Riverside.

Julie Truong, 19, of Garden Grove and Tai Duc Huynh, 34, of Monterey Park were released on bonds last week after their arrests.

If convicted, each defendant faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1-million fine for each count of bank fraud. Authorities said they expect to arrest 25 more individuals in the coming weeks. They have set up a hotline, (714) 968-0648, for callers to provide information and for suspects to arrange to turn themselves in before they are seized and taken away in handcuffs.