Woman Sentenced for Defrauding Elderly Couple

An Elk Grove woman was sentenced Tuesday to three years in prison for robbing an elderly couple of a quarter of a million dollars in savings.

Pang Thao, 26, was working at the Addison Avenue Federal Credit Union in Rocklin in March 2011 when she obtained access to the couple's account at another credit union in Palo Alto, prosecutors said.

Thao drained all $256,000 from the account, transferring it to the bank account of a cousin who then gave it back to her, according to a press release from the Santa Clara County District Attorney.

Some of the money was spent on shopping sprees at Nordstrom, Walmart and other stores, prosecutors said. The couple, who are in their seventies, didn't discover the theft until they received their bank statement.

Investigators said they were able to recover about $85,000, plus a 2007 Acura that was bought with the stolen funds.

Thao was convicted of identity theft, computer hacking and elder fraud. Thao's cousin, Nancy Vang of Sacramento, received a one-year sentence for identity theft and grand theft.