"National Vending" Biz Busted: Bitcoin Launderer Gets 6 Years

Trung Nguyen, who lived in Danvers, also has to give up $1.5 million and will be under supervision for three years after he leaves prison. The sentence was announced on May 22 by the US Attorney’s Office in Boston.

Nguyen ran a business under the name "National Vending" between 2017 and 2020. Although it appeared to be a vending machine company, it was actually a cash-to-Bitcoin service that was not registered with federal authorities, as required by law.

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To avoid being caught, Nguyen used methods he learned in an online course. He made up supplier names, kept the word "Bitcoin" out of his communications, and used the vending machine label to avoid suspicion.

People who used his service included scam victims and a drug dealer who sent him $250,000 in 2018 over ten separate transactions. The US Department of Justice said Nguyen moved more than $1 million into Bitcoin but never filed the required paperwork for large or suspicious transactions.

Nguyen usually met clients in person and accepted large amounts of cash. In 2023, he was charged after investigators met him while posing as customers. He accepted cash and sent Bitcoin in return, taking a fee of just over 5%.

On May 21, Brandon Karony, CEO of the cryptocurrency project SafeMoon, was found guilty and faced up to 45 years in prison. What happened? Read the full story.