Former Massachusetts state Sen. Dean Tran is facing new charges, along with his sister, for allegedly covering up a fake job offer for the embattled former legislator.
The pair covered up a fake job offer, federal prosecutors said Friday. They accuse Tran of editing and backdating a job offer letter from his sister's New Hampshire food company and forging her signature on it, all part of an alleged pandemic unemployment benefits scheme he's already been charged with.
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Tran pleaded "absolutely not guilty" to those charges, involving over $30,000 in allegedly fraudulently collected unemployment funds and undisclosed income, last year.
The 48-year-old Fitchburg resident was due back in federal court to face the new charges, obstruction of justice and making a false statement. It wasn't immediately clear if he had an attorney.
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His sister, Tuyet Martin, a 54-year-old from Pelham, New Hampshire, was arrested Friday morning on charges of obstruction of justice and perjury and pleaded not guilty in federal court in Boston Friday afternoon. Neither she nor her attorney offered a comment afterward.
Martin lied to investigators and attempted to delete emails about the job offer she gave Tran for a position at the company, for which she was CEO, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for Massachusetts. He allegedly told her to say he couldn't accept the offer for child care if she received a call to substantiate his story.
Boston's top FBI agent, Jodi Cohen, said in a statement that the pair are accused of subverting justice to conceal "Tran's alleged attempts to steal tens of thousands of dollars from public assistance programs at the expense of those in need."
Tran, who has also run for Congress, has also faced charges in state court, for allegedly stealing a fun from an elderly constituent and lying about it to investigators.
