Khuu

A California man accused of being involved with money laundering over $5 million has been indicted for federal violations in the Eastern District of Texas, U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston said in a press release Friday.

John Khuu, 27, of San Francisco, was indicted and charged with money laundering conspiracy in May. He appeared in a Tyler federal court Thursday and arraigned by U.S. Magistrate Judge John D. Love.

Khuu allegedly conspired with others to launder the proceeds of his drug trafficking organization through cryptocurrency, according to Featherston. He is also accused of “distributing counterfeit pharmaceutical pills and other controlled substances on dark web markets” to customers across the country, the U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of Texas stated.

In the transactions, customers paid for the drugs with crypto, usually Bitcoin, to one of Khuu’s vendor accounts. Khuu and his co-conspirators then allegedly “traded the Bitcoin for U.S. currency and laundered the proceeds through hundreds of transactions and dozens of financial accounts,” according to the release.

Khuu and his co-conspirators are accused of laundering more than $5.35 million.

On Aug. 17, a federal grand jury in the Norther District of California returned a two-count indictment charging Khuu with unlawful importation of a controlled substance. He was arrested two days later on both warrants in Garden Grove, California.

Khuu faces up to 20 years in federal prison on each charge if convicted.