Thuy Phan & Linh Nguyen/Nguoi Viet
The Union of the Vietnamese Student Associations of Southern California (UVSA) released a statement today naming president Nina Tran and treasurer Helen Nguyen as the subject of internal investigations that revealed $118,000 in missing funds. News of the financial mismanagement sent shockwaves throughout the close knit Vietnamese American community, with many former alumni angry and in disbelief.
“It’s a sad day for an organization that I’m so deeply connected with,” Phu Nguyen, former UVSA president said on his facebook account. He added, “This is not reflective of the organization. All its members and supporters are victims.”
Both Tran and Nguyen serve as non-paid members of the board and have been in their positions since 2013. The UVSA is responsible for putting together the annual Tet Festival, touted as the largest of it’s kind in the United States. Each event draws 50,000 to 100,000 visitors and in recent years, brought in over half a million dollars in revenue. In 2013, the organization reported estimated net profits of $232,000, of which nearly $86,000 was donated to charitable organizations throughout southern California. Collectively, the UVSA has been able to donate over $1 million dollars over the last ten years to the community.
Nicole Nguyen, a former internal vice president from 2000-2003, and current adviser, spearheaded the UVSA Oversight Committee that was formed after discrepancies arose.
“In 2013, the city of Garden Grove mandated a financial review of our organization,” Nguyen said. “Being as transparent as we could be, we looked into it and tried our best to be compliant. Little did we know this would happen.”
‘This’ refers to the first time in the organization’s history that officers were impeached due to allegations of fraud, embezzlement and theft.
According to the press release posted on the UVSA’s official website, serious concerns were raised when irregularities were found related to a Tet Festival debit bank card that was used by Nina Tran. These concerns were then brought up to the Executive Board several times between August and September 2014 but no record of actions or explanation was given.
Treasurer Helen Nguyen (left) and president Nina Tran (right) in a file photo from 2013. (Photo: UVSA)
Two months later, Nina Tran and Helen Nguyen were confronted with discrepancies that ranged from personal credit card bill payments to multiple cash withdrawals. They were given one month to provide documentation of expenses and spending of the UVSA funds but to date, complete records have not been provided.
An oversight committee was then formed, consisting of eight members who have been involved in the organization in some form, either as former executive officers or Tet Festival organizers. Nicole Nguyen, one of the members, said their main goal in going public with this information was to be transparent and also to do what’s the best for the organization.
“UVSA is so close to us, so it’s hard not to be affected,” she said. “This pains us all to have to go through this. We’re like a family, and in families, there are crises. This is our crisis and I want people to understand that we need support.”
Garden Grove city councilman Chris Phan was saddened to hear the news.
“I hope and pray it’s not true,” Phan said. “I know UVSA has a great reputation, so it would be very sad if this is true. A lot of people depend on this organization, and it’s made up of great kids. Hopefully whoever is guilty takes responsibility for their actions and be punished accordingly.”
On April 24 of this year, after several months of internal investigations, the committee found evidence of fraud, theft and embezzlement of UVSA funds in the neighborhood of $118,000. Of that number, Nina Tran is responsible for approximately $103,000 in stolen funds and unauthorized expenditures while Helen Nguyen, UVSA treasurer, is responsible for $15,000. These records were culled from financial documents examined between November 2012 and November 2014 and have been handed over to authorities.
The UVSA was able to recover $33,224.00 from Tran and the outstanding amount remains close to $70,000. Both Tran and Nguyen have been removed from office and could not be reached for comment. Making the decision to turn over the records and file a report to the Garden Grove Police Deparment and California Attorney General was a huge decision but an example the oversight committee wanted to set for other non-profits.
“We can’t operate that way,” Nicole Nguyen said. “We are doing our due diligence. If we didn’t discover this, it would go on forever. UVSA reported the allegations because it was the right thing to do and we cannot break the law. No one or orgnaization is above the law.”
Nguyen added that if the intent to take the funds was to repay, it would have happened a long time ago.
“There’s no record of repayment. So it’s considered stolen. If you have intent to pay, you wouldn’t have waited all this time. The risk is immense and costly for the last 30 years of hard work the UVSA has put in.”
Phu Nguyen, agrees.
“I have no doubt UVSA will overcome this challenge,” he said. “Hopefully, it makes them stronger and a more transparent organization with stricter internal controls.”
Nicole Nguyen said UVSA has always operated on the honor system, and recognizes there needs to be more oversights, more checks and balances and a new system to ensure this doesn’t happen again. She believes the organization is resilient and said she hopes the community will give them time to get through this.
“This is an isolated incident, “said Nguyen. “UVSA’s dedication and hard work should not be judged by the actions of two individuals. We still have a strong network of dedicated students and alumni.”
The remaining executive board members, internal vice-president Rob Cabiltes and secretary Arlene Ho will assume the additional responsibilities in the interim.
“We have a flawed system,” Nguyen said. “People found loopholes. It’s a huge lesson and price to pay. But it was not intentional. We’re not the bad guys. We will do much better because we have an opportunity to clean house and make things right. We can rebuild and be bigger and stronger. Give us time and space to make internal changes. Don’t give up on us.”
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