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LA Jewelry District Couple Pleads Guilty to Hiding Millions from IRS
The couple pleaded guilty to concealing at least $127 million in cash transactions at its precious metals businesses.
Alex and Sam Nguyen, a California couple that owned precious metals businesses in the downtown Los Angeles Jewelry District, have pleaded guilty to conspiracy after allegedly hiding more than $100 million in cash transactions from the IRS.
Los Angeles—A husband-and-wife duo that owned precious metals businesses in the downtown Los Angeles Jewelry District have pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges for allegedly concealing more than $100 million dollars in cash transactions from the United States government.
The couple also failed to maintain an anti-money laundering program and used the unreported cash at other family businesses, at a casino, and for other personal expenses, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California.
Alex Nguyen, 50, and Sam Nguyen, 52, both residents of Irvine, California, and one of their companies, Newport Gold Post Inc., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy.
Alex also pleaded guilty to one count of filing a false tax return.
The attorney for Newport Gold Post did not respond to a request for comment.
From May 2013 to March 2022, the couple owned several family businesses that bought and sold precious metals, including Newport Gold Post, Goldtech Assay Laboratory LLC (doing business as Infinity), Sam Bullion and Coin, and AAPS Bullion, as per their plea agreements.
The businesses allegedly received millions of dollars in cash from their customers.
The Bank Secrecy Act requires business owners to file a Form 8300 with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to report cash transactions exceeding over $10,000. The couple repeatedly failed to do that, said the release.
As an example, during a February 2020 transaction, a buyer asked for a receipt after buying 643 ounces of silver for approximately $11,766. Alex was said to have responded “not for cash” and did not ask the buyer for any identification.
Throughout the year, this buyer made several silver purchases, according to officials.
In December 2020, the buyer showed up with a suitcase containing $140,000 in cash. Half of the cash bundles were wrapped in heat-sealed packages.
Alex took the cash and gave the buyer 5,118 ounces of silver. Over a total of four transactions, Alex never filed a Form 8300 with the IRS, said officials.
While operating these businesses, Alex received $200,000 to $1 million in cash per day, said the statement.
With this cash, he purchased precious metals from other businesses in the LA Jewelry District, with an agreement that a Form 8300s would not be filed, as per the release.
Alex and his co-conspirators failed to file Form 8300s on more than 350 occasions, said officials, failing to account for at least $127.4 million in cash that went to Nguyen family businesses.
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The couple also failed to maintain an anti-money laundering program and used the unreported cash at other family businesses, at a casino, and for other personal expenses, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California.
Alex Nguyen, 50, and Sam Nguyen, 52, both residents of Irvine, California, and one of their companies, Newport Gold Post Inc., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy.
Alex also pleaded guilty to one count of filing a false tax return.
The attorney for Newport Gold Post did not respond to a request for comment.
From May 2013 to March 2022, the couple owned several family businesses that bought and sold precious metals, including Newport Gold Post, Goldtech Assay Laboratory LLC (doing business as Infinity), Sam Bullion and Coin, and AAPS Bullion, as per their plea agreements.
The businesses allegedly received millions of dollars in cash from their customers.
The Bank Secrecy Act requires business owners to file a Form 8300 with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to report cash transactions exceeding over $10,000. The couple repeatedly failed to do that, said the release.
As an example, during a February 2020 transaction, a buyer asked for a receipt after buying 643 ounces of silver for approximately $11,766. Alex was said to have responded “not for cash” and did not ask the buyer for any identification.
Throughout the year, this buyer made several silver purchases, according to officials.
In December 2020, the buyer showed up with a suitcase containing $140,000 in cash. Half of the cash bundles were wrapped in heat-sealed packages.
Alex took the cash and gave the buyer 5,118 ounces of silver. Over a total of four transactions, Alex never filed a Form 8300 with the IRS, said officials.
While operating these businesses, Alex received $200,000 to $1 million in cash per day, said the statement.
With this cash, he purchased precious metals from other businesses in the LA Jewelry District, with an agreement that a Form 8300s would not be filed, as per the release.
Alex and his co-conspirators failed to file Form 8300s on more than 350 occasions, said officials, failing to account for at least $127.4 million in cash that went to Nguyen family businesses.
In her plea agreement, Sam admitted to intentionally not filing the form for multiple cash transactions.
Officials noted a July 2021 incident when a buyer purchased 50 one-ounce gold bars at Newport Gold for $100,000 in cash, which was wrapped in heat-sealed, shrink wrapping.
Sam told the buyer she preferred when the cash was wrapped up this way, said officials, because she would sometimes receive cash that had been buried underground.
She did not ask the customer about the source of the wrapped cash, did not ask for identification, and did not file a Form 8300, according to the release.
IRS auditors had advised the couple several times to set up an anti-money laundering program, as required by federal law, but they did not.
The couple admitted to lying to federal officials including IRS auditors and the FBI, with both defendants having falsely stated they did not accept cash payments.
From 2016 through 2020, Alex filed inaccurate joint tax returns where he did not report income from the Nguyen family businesses, said the statement.
The couple also took cash from their businesses to a casino, where they received checks totaling more than $1 million, which were deposited into their bank accounts for personal use, said officials.
The total amount in taxes due for all five years may be as high as $1.9 million, as per court documents.
United States District Judge Michelle Williams Court has scheduled a sentencing hearing for June 5.
Alex faces up to eight years in federal prison while Sam will face up to five years. Newport Gold Post will face a statutory maximum sentence of five years of probation and a $500,000 fine.
IRS Criminal Investigation and the FBI are investigating the incidents.
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