30-month sentence in investment scam

An Alameda resident was sentenced to 30 months in prison after pleading guilty to defrauding at least 20 people out of millions of dollars, according to a news release from federal prosecutors.

Long Nguyen pleaded guilty last October to four counts of wire fraud, according to the statement from the office of U.S. Attorney for the Northern District Ismail J. Ramsey. Nguyen also was ordered by the judge to pay almost $1.5 million in restitution and to forfeit $1 million.

According to the release, Nguyen admitted to making several false statements from September 2015 to July 2021 to entice his victims into giving him money, which he then used to enrich himself.

Nguyen admitted to lying in telling clients that he was a billionaire who was starting his own hedge fund and that other people had invested with him and turned a significant profit. He also lied about opportunities for victim investors, claiming that he would and did invest victims' money, providing them with monthly income.

He admitted to creating fake screenshots of growing investment account balances to back his claims and falsely told victims that he would buy or had already bought them expensive cars and homes, according to the federal news release.

According to the plea agreement, Nguyen admitted that he intended to defraud his victims and that he did not invest the majority of the money he received from his victims. Instead, he kept the money for personal use or to pay other victims back.

According to the government's sentencing memorandum, Nguyen continued to lie to his victims when they asked for their money back. He falsely told them he was being audited, that his accounts had been frozen and that lawyers or the bank were reasons for the delay. He also sent fraudulent checks that his victims were unable to cash.

Nguyen will serve three years of supervised release after his prison term is completed.