Danvers Man Convicted In $1 Million Bitcoin Money Laundering Scheme

DANVERS, MA — A Danvers man was convicted in federal court of conducting an unlicensed money-transmitting business and money laundering after being charged with converting more than $1 million in cash into Bitcoin, including on behalf of a drug dealer and romance scammers.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said Trung Nguyen, 48, was accused of operating a business called National Vending, LLC from 2017 through 2020, which court documents said included $250,000 in cash from an individual who identified himself to Nguyen as a methamphetamine dealer.

He was also accused in court documents of accepting about $325,000 from a romance scam victim from Kansas City, $60,000 from a romance scam victim from Glastonbury, Connecticut and $60,000 from a romance scam victim from Central Massachusetts.

Prosecutors said in all three cases the victims were tricked into converting cash into Bitcoin and sending the digital currency artists overseas.

He was also found not guilty of a separate count of money laundering.

"Nguyen deliberately set up his money service business to evade banking regulations and to circumvent financial safeguards that prevent illicit proceeds from entering legitimate commerce," said HSI New England Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Krol. "Our investigation proved that Nguyen knew he was working with criminals by accepting money from victims of scams and a drug dealer."

Prosecutors said Nguyen concealed his money-laundering business by holding it out as a "vending machine business" and used encrypted messaging to communicate with customers in a way that made it difficult to trace the Bitcoin transactions.

Court documents also said Nguyen enrolled in a paid course on concealing his business that recommended Nguyen purport to operate "a business for which cash deposits from around the country make sense" and that he "develop (his) cover story," "create a list of your suppliers Fictitious of course," and "Don't say the word 'Bitcoin.'"

"Money laundering is the lifeblood of a wide swath of criminal conduct," Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy said. "This defendant's 'no questions asked' money laundering operation allowed a known drug dealer to turn their dirty cash into more deadly meth to pump into our streets and it allowed scammers to swindle vulnerable victims out of their hard-earned savings."

United States District Judge Richard G. Stearns scheduled sentencing for Feb. 12, 2025. Nguyen was indicted by a federal grand jury on May 30, 2023.