A former employee with the Los Angeles County Department of Social Services has been sentenced to 46 months in prison for fraudulently filing federal tax returns in the names of 197 different people.

Trang Van Dinh, 63, was also ordered to pay $667,034 in restitution to the IRS. Dinh pleaded guilty in February to two counts of filing false claims against the United States.

Dinh, who was employed as an Eligibility Worker II for Los Angeles County from 1999 through 2009, used the names and Social Security numbers of individuals seeking public assistance and filed fictitious tax returns The 197 returns filed by Dinh sought refunds totaling $2.2 million. The IRS issued refunds totaling $1.1 million.

When alerted to the fraudulent conduct, banks froze the accounts, but Dinh succeeded in accessing $667,034.