Burnsville Man Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison for Multi-Million Dollar Fraud Scheme Targeting Electronics Manufacturer
Provided by Sherburne County Jail.
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: A Burnsville man with a long history of fraud convictions has been sentenced to seven years in federal prison for orchestrating a complex scheme that defrauded a California-based electronics manufacturing company out of nearly $3 million, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson.
Thomas Thanh Pham, 53, was sentenced to 84 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $2,943,840 in restitution. U.S. District Judge Joan N. Ericksen, who handed down the sentence, described Pham as “an efficient and effective perpetrator of fraud” and immediately remanded him into custody, stating he was “too dangerous and too risky” to remain free.
“Fraudsters have flocked to Minnesota for far too long,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Thompson. “Pham is no exception. He is a serial fraudster who has demonstrated that he will not stop until he is stopped. Thanks to the hard work of law enforcement, for the next 84 months, Pham will be where he belongs—in prison.”
According to court documents, between 2019 and 2020, Pham defrauded a San Jose-based electronics company, identified in court filings as Victim A, through his business Enterprise Products, LLC, which purported to offer consulting and financial services in the engineering and manufacturing industries. Pham posed as a broker with ties to large electronics corporations and promised to secure lucrative contracts for Victim A. To bolster his claims, he staged meetings and contract negotiations that included a friend posing as a corporate executive, who, in reality, was a fellow ex-convict Pham had met in federal prison.
The fraud escalated when Pham convinced Victim A to pay a $1,278,000 "deposit bond" under the guise of securing repair contracts. He provided fake documents, including contracts and business proposals, and even shipped 20 stolen electronic devices as supposed "repair samples" to build trust with the company. Despite Victim A’s repeated requests for refunds and updates, Pham misappropriated the funds and provided only excuses and delays. He also pitched several additional sham deals involving even larger sums.
“Bad actors like Pham take advantage of hardworking Americans in order to enrich themselves by defrauding others,” said FBI Minneapolis Special Agent in Charge Alvin M. Winston Sr. “With this sentence, Pham has been held accountable for his crimes.”
Pham’s criminal history dates back more than three decades. It includes convictions for felony theft, possession of fraudulent IDs, check forgery, and a previous federal wire fraud case involving over $1.9 million in stolen electronics.
The FBI led the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew S. Ebert and Rebecca E. Kline prosecuted the case.
Written by: Will Wight
