In a Oct. 27 Department of Justice court hearing, Alamedan Long Nguyen admitted he defrauded at least 20 individuals out of approximately $2 million over a six-year span. Nguyen, 35, pled guilty to four counts of wire fraud in the court hearing before United States District Judge Trina L. Thompson.

In his plea agreement, admitted that, between September 2015 and July 2021, he operated a scheme to defraud his victims by making false statements about himself, his investment opportunities, how he would invest his victims’ money, and what he did with their money.

United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent in Charge Robert K. Tripp claimed Nguyen made several false statements to induce victims to give him money. His false statements included saying he was a billionaire, other people who invested with him had received large payouts at a high rate of return, he was starting his own hedge fund, he had access to pre-IPO investment opportunities that he would and did invest victims’ money into, and he managed a real estate investment trust that he would and did invest victims’ money into and that would provide victims with monthly income.

Nguyen also admitted he created fake screenshots that purported to show victims’ growing investment account balances, and falsely told victims not only that they were making money, but that he would buy — and, in some cases, had bought — them Teslas and homes.

Instead, Nguyen used his clients’ money for his own personal use, according to the plea agreement. He created and operated a Ponzi scheme, by using money he had received from some victims to pay other victims back. Nguyen admitted to the judge that he devised the scheme with the sole purpose of defrauding his victims.

Nguyen was indicted by a federal grand jury on October 18, 2022. As part of his guilty plea, Nguyen has agreed to pay at least $1 million in restitution to his victims. He still faces a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison for each of the wire fraud counts. Thompson may also order the defendant to serve an additional term of supervised release and pay a fine of up to $250,000 per count. Nguyen will be sentenced on Feb. 2, 2024.