A police officer from San Jose candidate has been temporarily decertified
The state police board briefly took away the officer certification of a San Jose police sergeant who is running for City Council because of mortgage fraud claims.
The state’s Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training briefly took away Tam Troung’s certification on September 18 because he was still being charged with a crime.
When a cop has done something very wrong, like sexual assault, abuse of power, or breaking the law, the state board takes away their licence.
“I am not guilty at all,” Truong told San José Spotlight. “That will be clear to everyone once all the facts are known.”
There was one count of grand theft linked to mortgage fraud filed by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office against Truong on September 5.
The lawsuit said Truong stole things and money from Orange Coast Title of Northern California, PHH Mortgage Services, Newrez LLC, and American Home Mortgage without permission. The money and things taken were worth more than $100,000.
Orange Coast Title Company sued Truong in 2022 for allegedly stealing from an escrow worker. This let Truong get out of his mortgage and get almost $540,000 from the sale of a house.
After Truong was charged with grand theft, the San Jose Police Department put him on suspended leave. When asked for their thoughts on Truong’s decertification, SJPD representatives did not reply.
After Truong was charged by the DA’s office, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan took back his support for him.
“This single-count complaint filed by the district attorney’s office is just an accusation,” Truong told San José Spotlight in the past. “That’s because they don’t understand all the facts of this case.”
This problem has been solved in a civil process, which is the right place for it to happen. “There is no proof that I meant to mislead anyone.”
For the District 8 San Jose City Council spot in November, Truong is running against current Councilmember Domingo Candelas. Truong has been a police officer for twenty years.
In the past year, the San José Spotlight also said that Truong owed more than $30,000 to a former worker at his private security business, Training and Protective Services.
Measure B, a ballot measure that cut SJPD officers’ retirement benefits, caused the city’s police force to lose a lot of officers. That’s why he started the company in 2012 to offer private guards for neighbourhoods.
A worker for Truong named Kevin Halverson said he worked almost 1,700 hours in the first half of 2013 but was only paid for a little more than 500 hours. He filed a pay theft case with the state labour commissioner in 2014, saying that Truong had not paid him for these hours.
In early 2015, Halverson and some of his coworkers went to court and testified. The labour commissioner then told Truong to pay Halverson $34,071 in back pay, fines, interest, and penalties. Soon after, Truong’s business went out of business.
According to Steve Slack, head of the San Jose Police Officers’ Association, running for office while no longer certified as a police officer is not a good look.
“Voters deserve to know the truth, and we urge Tam Truong to make the settlement agreement that he says ends the civil lawsuit against him for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from a mortgage company public in its entirety.”
