PALO ALTO, Calif. – Two women were sentenced to prison Wednesday for draining $256,000 from the accounts of an elderly couple at Addison Avenue FCU, now knownas First Tech CU.
Pang Thao, 26, a member service rep at the credit union, and her cousin Nancy Vang, 27, were convicted of identity theft and White Collar Crime Enhancement, and sentenced to three years and one year in prison, respectively.
Prosecutors said Thao broke into the elderly couple’s account at First Tech last May after creating a PIN for authorization. Thao then closed the victims’ account and transferred all their money – $256,000 in total – to an account belonging to Vang.
In April and May of last year, Vang then transferred most of the money back to Thao and Thao’s family. Some of the stolen money allegedly was spent on shopping sprees at Walmart and Nordstrom, according to prosecutors.
The victims, both in their 70s, noticed their account had been emptied in May 2011 after receiving their monthly statement. The couple immediately reported the theft to the credit union and police.
The investigation into the case was led by REACT, a Bay Area high-tech crime and identity theft task force run by the District Attorney’s office. REACT said it moved quickly to freeze and recover about $85,000 of the stolen funds, as well as seizing a 2007 Acura MDX, which was purchased with the stolen money.
