Vietnamese National Charged Over Alleged $53 Million Crypto Laundering Tied to Romance Scams
Key Takeaways
- •Federal prosecutors have charged Vietnamese national Trung Nguyen Van with laundering approximately $53 million in cryptocurrency linked to romance scams targeting victims across the United States.
- •A Missouri victim lost roughly $16 million between June and August 2024 after being directed to a fraudulent crypto investment platform known as Triangle.
- •Investigators traced more than $569,000 of the Missouri victim's funds to a wallet linked to Van, who then moved nearly $568,000 into private, self-custodied wallets outside the oversight of centralized exchanges.
- •Wallets connected to Van received about $53 million in cryptocurrency tied to wire fraud over nearly seven years, from February 2018 through December 2024.
- •The scams, which often began on dating apps and social media and used fake platforms displaying fabricated profits, fit the 'pig butchering' pattern that the FBI and other agencies have repeatedly warned about.
Federal prosecutors have charged Trung Nguyen Van, a Vietnamese national, with laundering approximately $53 million in cryptocurrency that was allegedly stolen from victims across the United States through romance scams. Van appeared in court on Friday, where prosecutors accused him of moving the proceeds through cryptocurrency investments in an effort to conceal the origin of the funds.
$16 Million Missouri Loss Traced to Van
According to a court affidavit, a victim in Missouri lost roughly $16 million between June and August 2024 after scammers directed the person to a fraudulent crypto investment platform known as Triangle. Investigators subsequently traced more than $569,000 of the victim's funds to a digital wallet linked to Van on Aug. 7. Such tracing relies on public blockchains, where transfers between wallet addresses are permanently recorded.
Two days later, six additional transfers tied to victims reached the same wallet, according to the affidavit. Investigators said Van then moved nearly $568,000 of the funds in four transactions to private crypto wallets, placing the money outside the oversight of centralized exchanges. Unlike funds held at an exchange, self-custodied wallets have no corporate intermediary that authorities can direct to freeze the assets.
Investigators Trace Wider Crypto Flows
Investigators say wallets linked to Van received approximately $53 million in cryptocurrency tied to wire fraud between February 2018 and December 2024, a span of nearly seven years.
According to authorities, the scams often began on dating apps, through text messages, or on social media. After gaining victims' trust, the scammers directed them to fake investment platforms that displayed fabricated profits. Those apparent gains encouraged some victims to send additional money, investigators said. Law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, have repeatedly warned about this pattern, widely known as "pig butchering," which has become one of the most widely reported forms of cryptocurrency fraud in recent years.
The FBI's Kansas City office said it worked alongside other agencies and partners in the case to prevent further losses and to track the movement of the funds. As the case proceeds through federal court, open questions include how much more of the roughly $53 million investigators can trace and whether additional victims are identified.
Source: CryptoNewsNet
