An American man was sentenced to 6 years in prison and ordered to forfeit millions of dollars for operating a cash-to-Bitcoin (BTC) conversion service that prosecutors described as "no questions asked."
On May 22, 2025, U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns sentenced Trung Nguyen, from Danvers, Massachusetts, to six years in prison followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered him to forfeit $1.5 million, according to the Boston U.S. Attorney's Office.
Prosecutors stated that Nguyen operated an unlicensed money transmission business called "National Vending" from September 2017 to October 2020, learning various techniques to evade authorities through an online course.
As part of the course, Nguyen learned how to disguise himself as a vending machine company accepting cash deposits, maintain a fictitious vendor list, and avoid using the term "Bitcoin" as much as possible to conceal his true business from banks, cryptocurrency exchanges, and state authorities.
According to prosecutors, Nguyen's clientele included several victims who were scammed into converting cash to Bitcoin by overseas fraudsters, as well as a drug dealer who sent $250,000 in cash through 10 transactions in 2018.
The Department of Justice stated that Nguyen converted over $1 million into Bitcoin and "willfully failed" to register with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) as required by federal anti-money laundering regulations.
Prosecutors also noted that Nguyen "did not submit any suspicious activity reports or currency transaction reports for any of these transactions, including cash transactions over $10,000."
Prosecutors claimed that Nguyen often met clients in person to accept large amounts of cash, which was also a reason for his arrest.
A May 2023 indictment indicated that during several meetings with undercover law enforcement, he accepted cash and returned Bitcoin, charging a commission of slightly over 5%.
The indictment stated that Nguyen used encrypted messaging apps and techniques to "make his Bitcoin transactions harder to trace," and split cash deposits into smaller amounts deposited over several days at different branches of the same bank to evade authorities' attention.
Nguyen was charged with operating an unlicensed money transmission business and two counts of money laundering. He pleaded not guilty to all charges in June 2023.
A jury found him guilty of operating an unlicensed money transmission business in November and convicted him on only one count of money laundering, while acquitting him on another money laundering charge.
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Original: “Money Launderer Operating 'No Questions Asked' Cash-to-Bitcoin (BTC) Business Sentenced to 6 Years”
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