Former Massachusetts state Senator Dean Tran has been convicted on 23 charges related to fraudulently applying for pandemic unemployment assistance and lying on his tax returns, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Tran, a Fitchburg Republican who served as a state senator from late 2017 until early 2021, was arrested in November after being indicted on 25 counts of wire fraud and three counts of filing false tax returns.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced his conviction on Wednesday, stating that a detailed release would follow. Prosecutors alleged that after his term ended in 2021, Tran fraudulently applied for pandemic unemployment benefits despite being employed as a paid consultant for a New Hampshire-based car parts company. He reportedly collected $30,120 in unemployment benefits while working for the company.
Additionally, authorities claimed that Tran failed to report over $50,000 in consulting income from the automotive parts firm on his 2021 tax return. He also allegedly concealed thousands of dollars in rent income from tenants at a Fitchburg property from 2020 to 2022, which he did not disclose to the IRS.
“Dean Tran was once elected to serve taxpayers, but today we arrested him for allegedly cheating them out of tens of thousands of dollars in fraudulent unemployment benefits meant to be a lifeline during the pandemic,” said Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division, at the time of Tran’s arrest. “This former state senator allegedly made the conscious decision to repeatedly lie about his employment status and underreport his rental property income to receive a tax break.”
Tran’s trial began in Boston on September 3. He has denied all charges and accused the U.S. Attorney’s Office and federal investigators of political bias due to his Republican affiliation.
In a separate case this past June, Tran was indicted for allegedly attempting to cover up a fake job offer from his sister’s company. As part of the investigation into his unemployment benefits, authorities examined a purported job offer letter from his sister, Tuyet Martin, who runs Alecon Enterprises, Inc. Prosecutors allege that Tran forged his sister’s signature and backdated the letter before submitting it in an appeal after his benefits were denied. Martin is also accused of concealing emails related to the letter and providing false testimony before a federal grand jury in July 2023.