Feds charge Danvers man did Bitcoin-based money laundering for area drug dealers

Trung Nguyen, 47, of Danvers, was arrested today on two counts of money laundering and one count of operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business for the three years federal investigators say he ran a scheme to convert money from drug dealers and, in one case, an online romance scammer, into Bitcoin cryptocurrency.

In an indictment unsealed in US District Court in Boston today, Nguyen was charged with converting money for a local meth dealer and for somebody who convinced a Worcester woman that he was in love with her and to accept cash payments - hidden in items such as stuffed animals and books - that she then handed over to Nguyen to convert the money into Bitcoin. The indictment also says undercover agents posing as drug dealers used his services.

Nguyen charged between 5% and 10% per transaction - and often took in amounts of more than $10,000 without reporting them to the government, as required, the indictment continues.

Innocent, etc.