Norwell union official accused of theft said to be 'very remorseful'
Truong Nguyen, wearing restraints on both his wrists and his ankles, told the court through his attorney that he was willing to pay restitution to the Norwell firefighters’ union, from which he allegedly embezzled about $46,000.
Nguyen said he was willing to empty his retirement account and other assets, including unused vacation time, to come up with almost half the amount immediately.
“He is very embarrassed and very remorseful,” said Martha Morrill, the lawyer appointed by the court Thursday morning to represent Nguyen.
The court entered a not-guilty plea on behalf of Nguyen, who spent the night at the Plymouth County House of Correction. Nguyen was arrested last Monday at Foxwoods Casino and was brought back to Massachusetts yesterday by Norwell police.
Morrill told the court that Nguyen, who served as the union’s treasurer for four years, suffers from a gambling addiction.
“He recognizes that he desperately needs treatment,” Morrill told the court.
Prosecutors said that between July 4, 2009, and April 7, 2010, Nguyen wrote 24 checks to himself and then cashed them. Citing a police report, Plymouth County prosecutor Brendan Barnes said that handwriting analyses and bank images support the claim that Nguyen was the person who emptied the union’s account.
Barnes said the president of the firefighters’ union, Joe Davis, first learned there was a problem when their national organization informed him the local union had not paid dues in about a year.
Norwell police said they first learned there could be problems with the union’s funds two weeks ago, when Norwell Fire Chief Andrew Reardon told them that Davis had been notified of an overdraft and that a “large sum of money” was missing from the union’s account at Citizens Bank.
Officials say the fund is used to sponsor local scholarships, boosters, and little league teams.
Nguyen, a 35-year-old Quincy resident, has been suspended without pay. He worked for a private ambulance company before joining the Norwell Fire Department, officials said last week.
Barnes asked the court to set bail at $20,000, but Judge Patrick Hurley, after Morrill said that the defendant and his family would be unable to pay more than $2,000, set bail at $10,000 cash.
Nguyen, who was wearing jeans, a blue T-shirt, and a white sweatshirt, was also ordered to stay away from the Norwell Fire Department and not to contact people in the firefighters’ union except through his attorney.
When Barnes said the Norwell firefighters’ union wanted Nguyen to hand over any remaining financial documents, Nguyen said the items were in his locker at work.
Watching from the second row of the gallery was the defendant’s elderly father, Truao Nguyen.
“I feel very sad," the elder Nguyen said through a friend who acted as an interpreter. The father said he came to America as a refugee from Vietnam in 1980 and lived in Norwell before eventually settling in Quincy. Truong, then 5, and his older sister came with him, he said.
“He’s a very good kid,” the elder Nguyen said. “Recently he had become a very compulsive gambler, and that got him into trouble.”
Police said embezzlement is a felony that carries a sentence of up to five years in prison. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for May 20.
Molly A.K. Connors can be reached at mollyakconnors@gmail.com.
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