Key Takeaways
- Trung Nguyen sentenced to 6 years for operating an unlicensed Bitcoin-for-cash operation.
- He laundered over $1 million, together with funds from rip-off victims and a drug seller.
- Nguyen used a faux merchandising machine enterprise to hide the operation from authorities.
A Massachusetts man who ran a cash-for-Bitcoin enterprise with no license has been sentenced to 6 years in federal jail.
Trung Nguyen, of Danvers, operated the scheme underneath the title “Nationwide Merchandising” from 2017 to 2020, concealing the true nature of his enterprise from banks and regulators.
Court docket proceedings & penalties
Nguyen was sentenced by Decide Richard Stearns in Boston federal court docket on Could 22.
Along with jail time, he’ll serve three years of supervised launch and should forfeit $1.5 million.
Strategies of operation
In response to prosecutors, Nguyen realized the way to disguise his operation by way of an internet course that instructed him to make use of a faux merchandising machine firm as a entrance.
He prevented mentioning “Bitcoin” and created fictitious suppliers to obscure the supply and function of the money he dealt with.
Clientele & authorized violations
The enterprise catered to shoppers that included rip-off victims and a drug seller who funneled $250,000 by way of Nguyen in ten separate transactions.
He didn’t register with FinCEN, didn’t report massive money transactions, and intentionally structured deposits to keep away from detection.
Arrest & conviction
Nguyen was arrested after a number of conferences with undercover brokers posing as shoppers.
He accepted massive sums of money and transferred Bitcoin in return, charging over 5% fee.
A jury convicted him in November 2024 on one rely of working an unlicensed money-transmitting enterprise and one rely of cash laundering.