WESTMINSTER : Tax Preparer Facing Sentence for Fraud

A tax preparer who owns a financial planning office in Little Saigon has pleaded guilty to tax fraud, federal prosecutors said.

Under a plea bargain, Hung Tien Pham, 36, faces up to three years in prison, a year of probation and fines that include one of $250,000, according to the prosecutors. The Lawndale man’s business was preparing tax forms primarily for Vietnamese clients at his office at 9061 Bolsa Ave.

Indicted last October, Pham has admitted to understating his taxable income in his 1987 tax return, an IRS spokesman said. For the purpose of sentencing, he also stipulated that he substantially understated his income for 1988 and 1989, evading an estimated $50,000 in taxes during a three-year period, the spokesman said.

Neither Pham nor his lawyer could be reached for comment.

Pham is scheduled to be sentenced before a U.S. District Court judge on June 19.

As the deadline to file 1994 income tax returns approaches, Internal Revenue Service officials warn taxpayers to be careful in choosing tax consultants. In the past year, tax evasion indictments were returned in more than 50 cases in Orange County.