Man Stole $400K From Boot Barn, Prosecutors Say

IRVINE, CA — A Santa Ana man made his first court appearance Tuesday on charges of embezzling roughly $400,000 from Orange County-based Boot Barn.

Andy Nguyen was charged April 25 of last year with single counts of grand theft and grand theft by employee, along with five counts of grand theft by embezzlement, all felonies, according to court records.

Nguyen also faces sentencing enhancements for aggravated white collar crime between $100,000 to $500,000.

In a motion to increase bail from $20,000, investigators said Nguyen was hired by the Irvine-based Western wear retailer in 2014 as an accountant and he worked his way up to director of accounting in October 2021.
Nguyen is accused of making about $403,000 in unauthorized charges using a company credit card.

Investigators flagged 94 transactions made to Venmo and 729 transactions made to PayPal, police said.