This story was originally posted on MyNorthwest.com
A 50-year-old San Jose, California, resident pleaded guilty Friday to defrauding thousands of businesses and charities across Washington and California.
Johnny Q. Nguyen, a former postal worker, pleaded guilty to a mail scheme in which he convinced victims to send money for fake state-required registration fees, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington announced. He agreed to pay $90,850 in restitution.
Former postal worker sent fake government mail
Nguyen sent mass mailings on fake government letterhead to thousands of entities, according to records filed in the case. The mailings were fake billing statements directing the recipients to send checks to a post office box Nguyen rented in Olympia, Washington.
Recipients were instructed to pay fake registration and filing fees for their business or charity to Nguyen’s company, called “Business Entities.”
Thousands of Washington and California entities sent money to Nguyen. He deposited around 350 checks from Washington victims totaling $82,210, and cashed 60 from California victims totaling $8,640.
Investigators were able to seize an additional 1,711 pieces of mail with checks and money orders totaling $395,295.
Nguyen tries to escape to Vietnam
After being charged, Nguyen appeared in a California court and was told to surrender all passports and appear in Tacoma for arraignment. Instead, on June 24, 2025, Nguyen boarded a flight from San Francisco to Taipei, Taiwan, en route to Vietnam, using a passport he withheld from the court.
Nguyen was detained in Taipei and put on a flight back to California, where he was taken into custody. He was later released on pre-trial supervision.
The attorney’s office noted that mail fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Nguyen’s sentencing is scheduled for May 22, 2026.
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