US charges Vietnamese national for laundering $53.3M from pig-butchering scams

3 min

U.S. prosecutors charged a Vietnamese national with money laundering tied to alleged cryptocurrency “pig butchering” schemes that moved more than $53 million. The case is filed in the Western District of Missouri after the defendant’s appearance in federal court in Los Angeles. The charges are allegations and have not been proven at trial.

TL;DR

U.S. prosecutors charged a Vietnamese national with money laundering linked to alleged crypto “pig butchering” schemes.
Wallets prosecutors attribute to the defendant received about $53.3 million and transferred roughly $53.2 million onward.
One U.S. victim allegedly sent about $16 million after being directed to a fake crypto investment platform.

Charges and Scope

Trung Nguyen Van, 37, faces two money-laundering counts. Authorities say crypto wallets controlled by Van received approximately $53.3 million in assets linked to wire-fraud schemes and then moved approximately $53.2 million. The complaint alleges these transactions laundered proceeds of fraud. The Department of Justice says the FBI investigated the case.

One Victim Allegedly Lost About $16M

Prosecutors say an investigation began after a victim believed they were investing via a platform called Triangle. The victim allegedly transferred about $16 million in crypto during the summer of 2024 after building trust with people involved in the scheme, then could not withdraw funds. Investigators linked the recipient infrastructure to other suspicious wallets and reports from additional U.S. victims with similar experiences.

Crypto: Movable and Traceable

Pig-butchering schemes involve cultivating a relationship with a target, then directing them to a fake investment. Crypto enables rapid cross-border transfers without traditional banks. The same blockchain records create evidence: wallet addresses, transaction histories and transfers between exchanges provide forensic trails that are difficult to erase completely. Recovery remains challenging because assets can pass through multiple wallets, bridges, privacy tools and exchanges before law enforcement becomes aware.

Legal Status

Van is presumed innocent unless proven guilty, and the criminal complaint is not evidence of guilt. The identified flows illustrate scale: a single alleged victim lost about $16 million, while wallets prosecutors link to the defendant handled more than three times that amount.

This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.