Van charged in $53 million crypto pig-butchering case

Trung Nguyen Van, a 37-year-old Vietnamese national, faces two money-laundering counts in a criminal complaint filed in the Western District of Missouri — unsealed after his initial appearance in federal court in Los Angeles.

The DOJ charging announcement alleges that wallets tied to Van received approximately $53,275,939 in cryptocurrency from wire fraud schemes targeting U.S. citizens between February 9, 2018, and December 17, 2024. Those wallets then sent approximately $53,188,466 of the same assets to accounts off the centralized blockchain network — roughly 99.83% of what came in.

The DOJ traces one specific path in detail.

Victim #1 transferred approximately $16 million in cryptocurrency between June and August 2024, believing the funds were going into an investment platform called “Triangle.” On August 7, 2024, more than $569,000 from that victim was directly traceable to Van’s wallet. Two days later, six transfers totaling approximately $569,569 — again traceable to Victim #1 — landed in the same wallet. Van’s wallet then sent approximately $567,999 across four transactions to a private, un-hosted address.

The DOJ says victims can face financial ruin.

R. Matthew Price, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, described the schemes as “an increasingly prevalent and sophisticated form of fraud that have caused billions of dollars in losses to victims around the world.” Price added: “Fraudsters should know that we will use every available resource to pursue those who target innocent victims.”

The government’s strongest public account is its transaction tracing: the complaint links a specific victim’s transfers to wallets associated with Van and then to onward transfers.

The FBI investigated. Chris Ormerod, special agent in charge for the FBI’s Kansas City Field Office, said the case shows the agency’s commitment to holding fraudsters accountable “regardless of where they operate or where their crimes are committed.” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeffrey Q. McCarther and James Kirkpatrick are prosecuting.