Man Pleads Guilty to Attempting to Launder Over $1.3 Million

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Fairfax man pleaded guilty today to conspiring to launder money on behalf of a group of individuals, causing funds to be transferred to bank accounts located in the United States and overseas.

According to court documents, from at least 2014 through at least November 2015, Tuyen Huu Nguyen, 54, participated in a money laundering conspiracy in which co-conspirators obtained stolen funds—either via emails that duped victims into transferring money to certain bank accounts controlled by Nguyen or by acquiring control of a victim’s bank account—and caused those funds to be transferred Nguyen’s accounts.  It was Nguyen’s role, upon receiving the proceeds of these frauds, to move the funds to financial accounts located in the United States and in foreign countries.  Some of the bank accounts that Nguyen used for his laundering activities were opened in the names of corporate entities that Nguyen owned and controlled but which did not have any employees.

In total, the amount of money intended to be laundered by Nguyen and his co-conspirators, in a manner that was reasonably foreseeable to Nguyen, was $1.365 million. The total amount actually laundered by Nguyen and his co-conspirators was $260,000.

Nguyen’s sentencing has been scheduled for August 10, 2018.  The offense of conspiracy to commit money laundering carries a maximum term of incarceration of 20 years in prison.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Tracy Doherty-McCormick, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, John P. Cronan, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and Patrick J. Lechleitner, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C., made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema accepted the guilty plea. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander P. Berrang, Senior Counsels Ryan K. Dickey and James S. Yoon of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, and Trial Attorney Kendrack D. Lewis and Former Trial Attorney Elizabeth Wright of the Justice Department’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section investigated and prosecuted the case.  Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Nguyen and former Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph V. Longobardo provided assistance investigating the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.  Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:18-cr-194.