A Fountain Valley man has been charged with 10 misdemeanor counts of money laundering $13,300 for the campaign of then-Orange County supervisor (and now-state Senator) Janet Nguyen, according to the District Attorney's office.
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Son Truong Nguyen, 38, of Fountain Valley, is charged with 10 misdemeanor counts of unlawful contribution and faces up to a year in jail and a $10,000 fine if he is convicted, according to the OCDA. He was reportedly sent an arraignment letter Monday to appear in court on Nov. 24.
A campaign worker with an undisclosed title (and who apparently is not related to the politician), Son Nguyen illegally reimbursed campaign contributors 10 different times between Nov. 2, 2011, and Jan. 30, 2012, alleges the OCDA, which adds it “is pursuing additional suspects.”
It's unclear whether Janet Nguyen is one of them; so far, the Garden Grove-based Republican has not been implicated in a crime.
She was first elected supervisor in a 2007 special election to succeed Lou Correa, who'd won a state Senate seat the year before. Nguyen coasted to victory in elections for full four-year terms as the First District supervisor in 2008 and 2012, and two years later she crushed Democrat Jose Solorio in the race for her current 34th State Senate District seat. She was the nation's first state senator of Vietnamese ancestry.
The OCDA and state Fair Political Practices Commission are in the midst of an ongoing investigation of money laundering by Nguyen's campaigns. Last year, the FPPC subpoenaed 11 donors to the 2012 committee for financial, phone and communication records, including Nguyen ally and former Westminster city councilman Tony Lam.
The Voice of OC reports court documents cite “evidence showing patterns of contributions from individuals with the same home address and employer; misreported addresses, occupation and employer information; and individuals listed as 'unemployed' or 'student' giving significant amounts of money.”
Supervising District Attorney Investigator Dina Mauger asks anyone who believes they have been the victim of money laundering in Nguyen campaigns to call her at 714.664.3960.
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