Source: Office of United States Attorneys
Used scam letters leading thousands of intended victims to believe they owed state filing fees for businesses – defendant allegedly pocketed nearly $100,000
Seattle – A San Jose, California resident was arrested today on an indictment from the Western District of Washington for his scheme to steal from thousands of businesses and charities with scam letters that appeared to be from state agencies, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. Johnny Q. Nguyen, 49, is charged in an eleven-count indictment with multiple counts of mail fraud and money laundering. Nguyen was indicted May 28, 2025, and will appear in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California today.
According to the indictment, in the fall of 2024, Nguyen allegedly sent mass mailings on fake government letterhead to thousands of entities. The mailings were fraudulent billing statements directing the recipients to send checks to a post office box Nguyen had rented in Olympia, Washington. The letters instructed recipients to pay registration and filing fees for their businesses. Nguyen created a limited liability company called “Business Entities” and induced the victims to make their checks payable to that entity.
Thousands of Washington and California victims sent checks, cashier’s checks, and money orders. Nguyen deposited some 350 from Washington victims totaling $82,210. He cashed 60 from California victims totaling $8,640. Investigators were able to seize an additional 1,711 pieces of mail that contained checks and money orders totaling $395,295.
Nguyen is charged with three different types of money laundering: concealment because he deposited the checks and money orders into accounts he controlled, transactions designed to conceal the source of the money; Promotion – because the deposits were to promote his mail fraud scheme; and spending because of his transfers of the money out for his personal use.
The indictment calls for Nguyen to forfeit $90,851 that he profited from the scheme.
Mail fraud and money laundering are punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
The charges contained in the indictment are only allegations. A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Nguyen is scheduled to appear in the Western District of Washington on July 1, 2025.
As a helpful reminder, if you receive a communication in any form purporting to be from a government agency, the best way to verify the source is to call the agency directly using a publicly available phone number on the agency’s website.
The case is being investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS).
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jehiel Baer.