Viet Army captain, West Point grad, accused of stealing $690,000
Friday, March 6th, 2009
A Viet army captain is charged in federal court with theft and money laundering for allegedly stealing $690,000 in humanitarian funds while stationed in Iraq.
Captain Michael D. Nguyen, 28, based in Fort Lewis (Wash.) is alleged to have stolen the money from an emergency fund designed to respond to urgent humanitarian relief and reconstruction needs in Iraq.
The IRS special agent who investigated the case called the case a betrayal of the country. Seattle radio station KOMO here quoted Special Agent Kenneth Hines as saying “As a member of the military you take an oath, the oath of office, to defend and protect - not to line your own pockets for own personal gain.”
Nguyen, a West Point graduate, was serving as battalion civil affairs officer in Muqdadiyah, Iraq, where he allegedly had access to a safe where the emergency funds were kept. The government accused Nguyen of taking bricks of crisp, uncirculated $100 bills from the safe and mailed the cash - still in its original wrappers - to his home in Beaverton, Ore.
