CALIFORNIA
KRON
By Molly Martinez
Published: April 20, 2015
SAN JOSE (BCN) — A Roman Catholic priest who formerly ran the Vietnamese Catholic Center for the Diocese of San Jose has been indicted by a federal grand jury in San Jose on bank fraud and tax evasion charges.
Hien Minh Nguyen, 55, was arrested in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Saturday and made an initial appearance in federal court there today, according to Abraham Simmons, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag for the Northern District of California.
An indictment charging him with 14 counts of bank fraud and four counts of tax evasion was unsealed following his court appearance today. The grand jury issued the indictment under seal on April 7.
The tax fraud counts allege that Nguyen underreported his income by a total of $1.1 million for the 2008 through 2011 tax years.
In the bank fraud counts, he is alleged to have deposited into his personal bank account 14 checks totaling $19,000 that were given to him by parishioners between 2005 and 2008 as donations for the Vietnamese Catholic Center.
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