A Vietnamese national has been charged with money laundering tied to a cryptocurrency scam that defrauded victims of millions of dollars. Trung Nguyen Van, 37, faces two counts of money laundering in the Western District of Missouri. Van made an initial court appearance in Los Angeles this week.
The scheme, known as a "pig butchering" scam, typically begins with fraudsters establishing seemingly romantic relationships with targets through dating apps, unsolicited texts, or social media messages. After gaining trust, perpetrators direct victims toward fake cryptocurrency investment platforms and encourage them to deposit increasingly large sums by showing fabricated returns.
In this case, one victim wired approximately $16 million in cryptocurrency between June and August 2024, believing they were investing in a platform called "Triangle." Investigators traced a single transfer of more than $569,000 directly to a wallet controlled by Van. Days later, the wallet received six additional transfers totaling roughly the same amount before Van allegedly moved nearly all of it into a self-custody wallet.
Authorities identified a broader pattern extending beyond the single victim. Between February 2018 and December 2024, Van's wallets received an estimated $53.3 million in cryptocurrency tied to wire fraud schemes targeting Americans. Nearly all of these funds were subsequently moved off the traceable blockchain.
"Pig butchering schemes are an increasingly prevalent and sophisticated form of fraud that have caused billions of dollars in losses to victims around the world," said R. Matthew Price, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri. The FBI's Kansas City Field Office worked with private-sector partners to investigate the scheme.
