23 Identity-Theft Arrests

Police and federal agents say they have broken up a Little Saigon-based identity-theft ring that was among the largest in Orange County, with more than 40 associates who fanned out across 12 states and pumped more than $2 million from the bank accounts of hundreds of victims.

Led by a former Westminster gang member, group members assumed the identifies of Orange County residents and withdrew large sums of cash from out-of-state banks or applied for instant credit and bought jewelry or electronics -- items that were later resold, police said.

Police and Secret Service agents said that in recent weeks they arrested 23 members of the theft ring in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Georgia. All were Los Angeles or Orange County residents, ranging in age from 19 to 53.

The alleged ringleader, Thuong Mong Nguyen, 31, was arrested Wednesday at a relative’s home in Westminster. He was named in an arrest warrant in Virginia, where he allegedly tried to withdraw money from a bank and was taped on a surveillance camera.

Nguyen, already facing carjacking and robbery charges in Fountain Valley, is in federal custody in Santa Ana on suspicion of bank fraud and identity theft.

“It’s a big operation and a sophisticated criminal enterprise,” said Westminster Police Sgt. Marcus Frank.

During a federal court hearing Thursday in Santa Ana, Nguyen, through a Vietnamese translator, agreed to be extradited to Virginia.

His request for bail was denied, though a full bail hearing was scheduled for today.

The ring has operated for more than 1 1/2 years, led by Nguyen and four top lieutenants who recruited and directed members from Westminster, authorities said. Police and federal agents spent six months investigating the operation.

Among those arrested was Nguyen’s wife, Mai Le, 28. At the time of her arrest, she was free on bail in an unrelated identity theft case in Newport Beach. Police said she also was recently arrested on suspicion of identity theft in Georgia and Kansas but skipped bond in each case. Her latest arrest follows a grand jury indictment in Kansas.

Nguyen allegedly had connections to obtain bank account information and used that data to create fake driver’s licenses and credit cards in the victims’ names, Frank said. He would send small teams to other states, where they would withdraw large sums of cash from banks or apply for instant credit at shopping malls and buy big-ticket items that could easily be resold, Frank said.

The couple told police they work as manicurists, but authorities have not been able to confirm that, Frank said.