A Houston couple has been sentenced for conducting a multimillion-dollar money laundering operation involving virtual currency and proceedings of drug trafficking. Vinh Quang Phan and his wife Diana Le Phan have both been ordered to serve 120 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
In a statement detailing the sentence, U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison expressed a lack of sympathy for the couple, who were already wealthy before turning to crime. "This is one of the least sympathetic cases of need I have encountered," Judge Ellison said in the press release. "All of this was foreseeable. I wish people would think about their families before they commit crimes, rather than invoking their families now."
The Phans pleaded guilty to charges of unlicensed money transmitting and money laundering on June 18. They were permitted to remain on bond and will voluntarily surrender to U.S. Bureau of Prisons facilities in the near future. In addition to their prison sentences, they are required to pay $80,000 in fines and forfeit a range of assets including their Houston home, cash, and seized account funds totaling more than $470,000.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, over an approximately 21-month period, the Phans operated an unlicensed money transmitting business, processing over $33 million without the proper state or federal licensing. Their operations involved "money mules" and the conversion of illicit cash to virtual currency, which was then sold, notably in California. The complexities of their scheme indicated a sophisticated understanding of financial institutions and virtual currency companies, but ultimately their illicit activities drew the attention of federal investigators.
IRS-CI Special Agent in Charge Lucy Tan emphasized the role of her team in the investigation, stating: "Our special agents reviewed records from more than 20 financial institutions and virtual currency companies, and worked with the task force to execute approximately 40 search warrants and interview dozens of witnesses to unravel the defendants complex scheme to transmit and launder millions in illicit proceeds," as per the press release. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephanie Bauman and Eun Kate Suh, with Deputy Chief Brandon Fyffe of the Asset Recovery Section also providing assistance.
The investigation was a collaborative effort led by the IRS Criminal Investigation’s Houston Field Office and the South Texas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) Financial Crimes Task Force. They received additional support from agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Houston Police Department, under the umbrella of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF). The OCDETF program is part of a federal strategy to disrupt and dismantle high-level drug trafficking and money laundering operations.
