Vietnamese National Charged with Money Laundering in $16M Crypto Scam
A Vietnamese national has been charged with money laundering for his role in a massive cryptocurrency scam that defrauded a victim out of $16 million worth of crypto.
The suspect, Trung Nguyen Van, entered the US through California and was arrested before boarding a flight to Taiwan. Court documents reveal that Van's wallet received over $53 million in cryptocurrency between February 2018 and December 2024, including at least $24 million linked to known 'pig butchering' schemes.
Pig butchering scams involve fraudsters luring victims into fake investment schemes through social media or dating sites. Once trust is established, scammers steal the money by transferring it into their own crypto accounts.
The Department of Justice notes that Van's actions are part of a broader wire fraud scheme involving over $125 million in cryptocurrency. The FBI reports that Americans lost almost $21 billion to cyber-enabled crimes last year, with investment scams accounting for 49% of all scam-related incidents.