Photo: Dan Nguyen
Ventura County – Apparently some people are so determined to find romance online that they forget to recharge their B.S. detectors. When that happens, a woman may easily find herself the target of a lothario interested in only one thing: her money.
That is clearly the case reported by Ventura County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sgt. Robert Davidson, detailing the circumstances leading to the March 22nd arrest of 44-year-old Irvine resident Dan Nguyen.
According to Davidson, a 44-year-old female Thousand Oaks resident and business owner met Nguyen “on a popular internet dating site,” and after establishing a personal relationship with him, was led to believe that he was “an expert businessman and a business consultant.”
During the course of their relationship, Nguyen obtained documents signed by the victim giving him half ownership of her business as well as control over certain financial resources used in the conduct of both her business and her personal life.
At some point Nguyen—who had purchased multiple vehicles and rented an apartment in her name—deflected payments away from creditor financial institutions to himself. Pursuant to an investigation by Thousand Oaks detectives begun in January 2018, it was eventually determined that Nguyen “stole approximately $200,000 from the victim.”
On March 22nd, Thousand Oaks cops showed up at Nguyen’s Irvine residence, search warrant in hand. That search produced substantial evidence, including “numerous financial documents” and nearly $4,000 in cash, which led to Nguyen’s arrest and transport back to Ventura County Jail, where he was booked on charges of grand theft by false pretenses, with his bail set at $100,000.
