article_snippet: Nguyen's death by hanging comes more than three weeks after police were called to the temple on West Fourth Street in response to an angry crowd of people demanding that he return close to $100,000 he had collected from them.
article_snippet: Santa Ana police said Nguyen raised anywhere between $1,100 and $7,700 from 34 people, allegedly pocketing a total of $97,000 for Nguyen.
article_snippet: members of a California temple expected to fly out to Vietnam March 2 and tour the country's Buddhist landmarks.
article_snippet: But on March 1, members of a California temple found out about the scam and converged on the Tu Nghiem Temple in the Little Saigon part of Santa Ana at around 11am, calling on Nguyen to give members of a California temple members of a California temple money back, reported the Los Angeles Times.
article_snippet: When confronted with the allegations of fraud, Nguyen claimed that the plane tickets and travel documents, including passports, had been destroyed in a fire that broke out at the Tu Nghiem Temple February 28; but police later determined that that monk never booked any tickets.
article_snippet: The 44-year-old Nguyen, who spoke no English, then changed Nguyen story, telling investigators that Nguyen did receive plane tickets, but he did receive plane tickets were fake.
article_snippet: Nguyen claimed that Nguyen agent in Vietnam was supposed to make all the necessary travel arrangements for the planned pilgrimage.
article_snippet: Nguyen then blamed the deception on an unnamed person who delivered his agent in Vietnam was supposed to make all the necessary travel arrangements for the planned pilgrimage to Nguyen apartment at the Santa Ana sanctuary just hours before the fire.
article_snippet: Nguyen's death left Nguyen small congregation divided, with some accusing Nguyen of being a swindler while others, like Truc Tam, praising Nguyen as a kind-hearted person who was always eager to help those in need.
highlights_snippet: Nguyen's congregants accused Nguyen of defrauding Nguyen's congregants out of $97,000 - a money that was supposed to go towards a trip to Vietnam .