The case of Vietnamese "money laundering" wanted by the FBI: As a doctor with a degree, published a shocking "profile"?

Recently, the FBI has issued an arrest warrant for Nguyen Minh Quoc, 49 years old, Vietnamese nationality. This person has a doctorate and is accused of being involved in money laundering and stealing personal information.

On March 15, the European Union Law Enforcement Cooperation Agency (Europol) and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced that it had taken down the ChipMixer website. The confiscated assets included 1,909.4 Bitcoins. ChipMixer is alleged to be involved in the act of mixing cryptocurrencies, helping cybercriminals launder more than three billion USD worth of digital money.

Reuters cited reports of these two agencies that ChipMixer was founded in 2017 by a person named Nguyen Minh Quoc, from Quang Binh. According to information from the FBI, this person has a PhD in cryptography, which was issued in Taiwan.

"Nguyen Minh Quoc is wanted for being directly involved in money laundering and identity theft using ChipMixer's services. Most of the money is directly related to cybercriminals using ransomware to blackmail users, crypto theft and other criminal conduct," the FBI's website states.

Europol and the US Department of Justice charged ChipMixer with money laundering for drug dealers, Russian military hackers, and North Korean cybercriminals. The total amount involved in the allegation against ChipMixer amounted to $3 billion.

European and US authorities have shut down ChipMixer's website. The content was replaced with the words "THIS WEBSITE HAS BEEN SEIZED" (this website has been seized) along with the logos of German, US, Swiss and Polish law enforcement agencies.

The US Department of Justice said Quoc has not been arrested because his current whereabouts are unknown. Authorities have contacted this person via email and on the ChipMixer website but have received no response.

Nguyen Minh Quoc is said to have created and directly run the infrastructure of ChipMixer, the illegal cryptocurrency mixing engine. The person also advertises online services and provides assistance on how to avoid legal action.

This person also uses a number of other aliases such as Minh Nguyen Quoc, Quoc-Minh Nguyen, Minh Nguyen Quoc, Quoc-Minh Nguyen, James Smith, and David Minh. On the homepage, the FBI said Minh Quoc Nguyen received basic training in cryptocurrency techniques. Previously, this person worked in the field of online reconnaissance and decoding communications. In 2016, Minh Quoc Nguyen obtained a PhD in electronic engineering in Taiwan.

Europol describes ChipMixer as "one of the largest cryptocurrency mixers on the dark web". According to digital currency tracking service Elliptic, ChipMixer was used to launder over $844 million worth of Bitcoins related to illegal activity. Of that, at least $666 million was from cryptocurrency thefts.

Other attack groups have also used this service to launder ransoms from victims. US authorities are also expanding their investigation into some of the cryptocurrencies stolen in major crypto exchange crashes in 2022.

According to the US Department of Justice, ChipMixer engaged in a number of illegal activities from August 2017 to March 2023, such as: facilitating the laundering of $17 million in Bitcoin in ransomware attacks; laundered over $700 million in Bitcoin for wallets containing funds stolen from the Ronin (Axie Infinity) and Harmony Horizon bridge hacks; laundered over $200 million in Bitcoin associated with the darknet and other organizations.

Previously, in 2019, ChipMixer was also noticed by the authorities when it helped hackers launder at least 4,836 Bitcoins stolen from the Binance exchange.

The arrest of Minh Quoc Nguyen is also being concerned by the Vietnamese online community. On a forum in Vietnam, a user shared a portrait of Minh Quoc Nguyen, with a sarcastic comment: "Portrait of Nguyen Quoc Minh, if anyone knows where he is, please report it, FBI thanks. Only 3 billion dollars, it's really good to have high education"!

According to the indictment, this person openly violated regulations on financial management and accused the government of charging money laundering to spy on citizens.

ChipMixer, an unauthorized cryptocurrency mixing tool founded in mid-2017, specializes in mixing or cutting crypto-related traces. Europol described it as "one of the dark web's largest crypto launderers" and seized $42.2 million in the raid.

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