Alleged ‘Pig Butchering’ Crypto Fraud
Trung Nguyen Van, 37, faces a two-count criminal complaint in the Western District of Missouri charging him with money laundering. The complaint was unsealed this week after Van made an initial court appearance in Los Angeles, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Kansas City.
Pig butchering schemes—named for the practice of “fattening up” a victim before financially devastating them—typically begin with fraudsters striking up seemingly romantic relationships with targets online, often through dating apps, unsolicited texts or social media messages. Once trust is established, victims are steered toward fake crypto investment platforms and encouraged to pour in increasingly large sums after being shown fabricated returns.
According to court filings, the victim in this case wired approximately $16 million in cryptocurrency between June and August 2024, believing they were investing in a platform called “Triangle.” Investigators traced a single transfer of more than $569,000 directly to a wallet controlled by Van. Days later, that wallet received six additional transfers totaling roughly the same amount before Van allegedly moved nearly all of it—about $568,000—into a self-custody wallet.