Vietnamese National Charged in $16M Crypto Scam That Moved Tens of Millions

A Vietnamese national has been charged with laundering money from a widespread cryptocurrency scam that bilked one victim out of roughly $16 million.

The U.S. federal prosecutors claim Trung Nguyen Van, 37, moved tens of millions more through his digital wallets over several years.

The alleged 'pig butchering' scheme started with an online romance that convinced the victim to pour in increasingly large sums after being shown fabricated returns on a fake crypto investment platform called 'Triangle.'

Between February 2018 and December 2024, Van's wallets received an estimated $53.3 million in cryptocurrency tied to wire fraud schemes targeting Americans.