San Jose priest indicted on federal fraud, tax charges

By Howard Mintz
Contra Costa Times
April 20, 2015

http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_27953348/san-jose-priest-indicted-federal-fraud-tax-charges.html

A San Jose priest has been indicted on federal fraud and tax evasion charges, accused of abusing his position by diverting thousands of dollars in donations from parishioners into his personal bank account over a three-year period.

In an indictment made public on Monday, Hien Minh Nguyen, a priest with the Diocese of San Jose, is charged with 14 counts of bank fraud as well as failing to report hundreds of thousands of dollars in income between 2008 and 2011. The 55-year-old priest was arrested on Saturday in Florida and appeared in federal court in Fort Lauderdale on Monday.

He is expected to eventually face the charges in San Francisco federal court, where a grand jury indicted him earlier this month.

In a statement, Bishop Patrick McGrath said the diocese could not comment on the charges, but disclosed that it has been cooperating with federal investigators since October 2012. Nguyen has been on personal leave from his position since December 2013, according to the diocese.

Nguyen has been a priest since 1994, holding various positions with the San Jose diocese, including director of the Vietnamese Catholic Center and Vicar for the Vietnamese ministry, according to the indictment.

The indictment alleges that Nguyen asked parishioners to write checks to the Vietnamese Catholic Center but instead diverted the donations to his personal Wells Fargo Bank account. The indictment outlines 14 instances of such alleged fraud between 2005 and 2008, with the checks ranging between $300 and $3,000.

Federal prosecutors have also moved to seize any money related to the alleged fraud through a criminal forfeiture charge.