A former hotel manager from Hewitt, Texas, has admitted to a scheme of embezzlement that led to his pleading guilty to filing a false income-tax return. According to an announcement made by the Office of Public Affairs, Hieu Duc Tran was in court yesterday where he owned up to his actions before U.S. Magistrate Judge Derek T. Gilliland.
Over an eight-year span, Tran siphoned off more than $1 million from the hotel's revenues — with embezzlement, as a manager he controlled the payment processing system used to route funds from hotel guests’ credit cards directly into his pockets, instead of into the hotel’s ledger, as detailed by the Office of Public Affairs. Hotel guests' checks, intended to settle their hotel stays, found their way into his personal bank account.
The illegal operation didn’t go unnoticed by the IRS. Through the filings for the years 2014 to 2021, Tran sidestepped the responsibility of reporting the embezzled funds as taxable income. This evasion caused a loss of over $200,000 to the IRS. For the misreporting of his income, the former hotel manager could face up to three years in prison, along with restitution and additional monetary penalties, once sentenced at a future date, as reported by the Office of Public Affairs.
Paying federal taxes is required, no matter how the money is earned—a fact Tran admitted in court when he confessed to not reporting the embezzled funds. The case is being led by the IRS Criminal Investigation unit, with Trial Attorney Curtis J. Weidler handling the prosecution. He’s being supported by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas, showing the government's strong stance against tax crimes, as stated by the Office of Public Affairs.
As it stands, the intricacies of Tran’s sentencing are contingent upon assessments of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, alongside other statutory factors. Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Karen E. Kelly of the Justice Department’s Tax Division noted the guilty plea, reiterating the serious nature of Tran's crimes, as per the Office of Public Affairs.
