On Saturday, September 26, 2026, KCTV reported that federal prosecutors have charged a Vietnamese national with laundering tens of millions of dollars stolen through cryptocurrency romance scams, in a case that centers on a Missouri victim who lost roughly $16 million.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri announced Friday that Trung Nguyen Van, 37, faces two counts of money laundering. The charges came after his initial court appearance in Los Angeles.
Prosecutors allege Van played a part in an international “pig butchering” operation, a fraud model that authorities describe as a fast-growing, billion-dollar industry aimed at millions of Americans. In such schemes, scammers build trust with targets through dating sites, text messages, or social media, often cultivating a fake romantic relationship before steering victims toward fraudulent cryptocurrency platforms.
According to an unsealed affidavit, the Missouri victim lost about $16 million between June and August 2024 after being directed to invest in a bogus platform called “Triangle.” Investigators traced a transfer of more than $569,000 from the victim to Van’s digital wallet on August 7, 2024. Two days later, the wallet received six more transfers linked to victims, totaling another $569,000.
The affidavit states that Van moved nearly $568,000 of those funds in four separate transactions to private, unhosted wallets outside centralized networks, allegedly to avoid detection. Authorities say the transfers happened within moments of the money arriving.
Investigators further allege that Van’s cryptocurrency wallets received roughly $53 million between February 2018 and December 2024 in connection with wire fraud schemes targeting U.S. residents. According to the affidavit, multiple victims nationwide reported losing millions of dollars to the same tactics.
U.S. Attorney R. Matthew Price said pig butchering schemes are an increasingly prevalent and sophisticated form of fraud that has cost victims worldwide billions of dollars. He said his office worked with law enforcement partners across multiple jurisdictions to bring the case and warned that prosecutors will use every available resource against those who target innocent victims.
FBI Kansas City Special Agent in Charge Chris Ormerod said federal and private-sector partners disrupted the operation to prevent additional losses. He said the case reflects the FBI’s commitment to holding fraudsters accountable regardless of where they operate.
Investigators say scammers in these operations typically show victims fake investment dashboards displaying large, artificial profits to persuade them to send larger sums. Once money is deposited, authorities say, it cannot be withdrawn.
Source: KCTV
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