The former executive director of the Asian Chamber of Commerce of Austin
The former executive director of the Asian Chamber of Commerce of Austin has been indicted by a Travis County grand jury after an investigation into the submission of false payroll records related to state grants, state auditor’s office and court documents show.
Mai Nguyen, 51, of Austin faces a charge of securing execution of a document by deception, a third-degree felony, according to her Dec. 16 indictment. The indictment charges that the state lost more than $20,000 but less than $100,000 in the case.
Nguyen has not been arrested, and it is unclear if she has a lawyer. She could not be reached for comment.
But Debbie Ratcliffe, a spokeswoman for the Texas Education Agency, said the agency uncovered compliance problems with the grant, investigated them and turned the findings over to the state auditor’s office six or seven years ago.
A news release from the auditor’s office said its special investigations unit looked into allegations that Nguyen submitted false records to the agency for the reimbursement of payroll expenses under an English literacy and civics education grant.
The release said the grants enable organizations to create programs to teach immigrants English and American government, and that the Asian Chamber of Commerce of Austin received the grants between 2002 to 2005 and that it operated as a nonprofit in Austin until 2006.
The Asian Chamber of Commerce of Austin is a different organization and has never been affiliated with the Austin Asian American Chamber of Commerce, which continues to operate in Austin, said that group’s executive director, Karen Boyer.
UPDATE: The Texas Asian Chamber of Commerce has no relationship with Ms. Nguyen or her organization, which appears to be defunct. Any confusion some readers have about TACC and our relationship to Ms. Nguyen or her organization is unfortunate as Ms. Nguyen has never served on TACC’s board, been on our payroll, served as executive director, etc. etc.