A Vietnamese national was charged with money laundering for his role in a massive "pig butchering" scam, which defrauded a victim out of $16 million worth of cryptocurrency.
37-year-old Trung Nguyen Van entered the United States through the San Ysidro, California / Mexico pedestrian border entry point on September 22 and was arrested before boarding a flight to Taiwan out of Los Angeles International Airport on September 24.
One of Van's victims transferred about $16 million in cryptocurrency between June and August 2024 in transfers directly traceable to Van's cryptocurrency wallet, believing they were investing in a crypto investment platform called "Triangle."
After collecting the funds, the defendant transferred them to a private, unhosted crypto wallet off the centralized blockchain network.
According to court documents, the charges stem from a broader wire fraud scheme involving more than $125,000,000 in cryptocurrency, with Van's crypto wallet receiving over $53 million between February 2018 and December 2024, including at least $24 million in crypto assets linked to known "pig butchering" schemes.