Former state senator convicted of unemployment and tax fraud

Former state Sen. Dean Tran has been convicted of 20 charges of wire fraud and three tax-related charges, according to the U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts' office.

Prosecutors indicted Tran in 2023, alleging that he collected more than $30,120 in pandemic unemployment benefits despite also working as a paid consultant for a New Hampshire automotive parts company. Tran also allegedly did not disclose more than $54,700 in income from the company or income collected from rental properties on his 2021 tax returns.

Tran, a Republican who served in the senate from 2017 to 2020, was previously indicted by a Suffolk County grand jury on unrelated charges that he allegedly used his senate staffers to campaign for him in violation of state ethics laws. He was also indicted by then-Attorney General Maura Healey in July 2022 on charges related to theft of a firearm from an elderly constituent.