BREAKING NEWS Couple living in Costa Mesa indicted in international scheme

A man and woman federal officials claim acted as runners in an international, online bank fraud scheme based in Romania that bilked $3 million from thousands of victims were arrested at a Costa Mesa hotel Sunday night.

FBI agents, with the help of the Costa Mesa police, arrested Hiep Thanh Tran, a permanent legal resident from Vietnam, and his girlfriend, Caroline Tath, a permanent legal resident from Cambodia, Sunday evening in Costa Mesa after the pair were accused in a federal indictment of Internet-based fraud, said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the United States Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. Tran and Tath are two of 33 people named in a 65-count federal indictment issued in Los Angeles last week alleging the pair used bank and credit account information culled through Internet scams to manufacture fake debit, credit and gift cards.

The couple was staying at the Wyndham Orange County hotel in Costa Mesa, 3350 Avenue of the Arts, under an assumed name at the time of their arrests, Mrozek said. Law enforcement officials claim the couple communicated via Internet chat sessions with members of a Romanian bank fraud ring, who fed the pair bank and credit card account information gathered through online phishing schemes. Law enforcement officials allege Tran and Tath used victims’ bank account information supplied by the Romanians to re-code magnetic strips on debit and credit cards. Tran, Tath and other members of the ring would then use the cards to purchase goods at stores and cull money from ATMs and cash registers, according to the indictment. The couple and the other members of the ring would keep a percentage of the profits and wire the rest back to their associates in Romania, the indictment claims.

Law enforcement officials found evidence the couple actively communicated with Romanians at the time of Tath’s arrest in the couple’s hotel room at the Wyndham Sunday, Mrozek said.

“Investigators found computers up and running with a live chat going on with people in Romania — we believe it was part of the scheme they are accused of,” Mrozek said.

Three others also believe to be involved in the scheme have been arrested across Southern California over the past day on federal racketeering charges. Federal officials allege members of the ring operated from locations in the United States and abroad including Canada, Pakistan, Portugal and Romania. Members of the ring include both U.S. citizens and foreign nationals.

Several law enforcement agencies, including the Costa Mesa police cooperated in the investigation, as well as federal and international authorities.

“This is another example of the outstanding relationship the Costa Mesa Police Dept. has with our law enforcement partners at the federal level,” said Costa Mesa Police Chief Christopher Shawkey in a written statement. “This was an incredibly complex investigation, and it took the expertise each agency offered to bring it to a successful conclusion.”

BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at brianna.bailey@latimes.com.