Irvine couple with jewelry businesses hid $127 million in cash from the IRS, feds say
An Irvine couple accused of failing to file IRS forms for more than $127 million in cash from their precious metal businesses in the downtown Los Angeles’ Jewelry District have pleaded guilty to criminal charges, federal prosecutors announced on Friday, Dec. 19.
Alex Nguyen, 50, and Sam Nguyen, 52, owned various businesses that bought and sold precious metals, including Newport Gold Post, Sam Bullion and Coin, AAPS Bullion and Goldtech Assay Laboratory LLC, which did business as Infinity, according to their plea agreement.
As they were bringing in millions of dollars in cash – sometimes $200,000 to $1 million daily – the couple was required to file forms with the IRS to report all cash transactions over $10,000, but they repeatedly “knowingly and intentionally” did not file these forms, the U.S. Attorney’s Office stated.
Prosecutors said the pair hid cash, used unreported cash at separate family businesses and casinos, failed to maintain an anti-money laundering program, and accepted large amounts of cash without asking buyers for identification.
“In total, Alex Nguyen and his co-conspirators intentionally failed to (properly) file … Form 8300s on more than 350 occasions for at least $127,446,066 in cash that was delivered to Nguyen family businesses,” prosecutors said in a news release.
Sam and Alex Nguyen and their company Newport Gold Post pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy. Alex Nguyen also pleaded guilty to one count of filing a false tax return.
The couple accepted heat-sealed, shrink-wrapped cash for transactions of thousands of pounds of silver and 50 gold bars, with Sam Nguyen telling one buyer, “She preferred shrink-wrapped cash because sometimes she received cash that had been buried underground,” prosecutors said.
Alex Nguyen used cash to purchase precious metals at other businesses in Los Angeles’ Jewelry District, prosecutors said, adding that business owners agreed not to file complete IRS forms.
“The Nguyens also took cash from their businesses to a casino, then received checks totaling $1,048,450 from the casino, which they deposited into their bank accounts for personal use,” the release added.
Prosecutors also accused Alex Nguyen of filing false joint tax returns under penalty of perjury from 2016 to 2020. In these returns, he did not report millions of dollars in business income, including failing to report over $1.5 million in just 2019. For the five-year period, court documents estimate the couple owed between roughly $1.77 million to $1.87 million in taxes.
The couple also lied to officials, with Sam Nguyen saying she did not accept cash payments and Alex Nguyen saying he did not accept cash payments since the 1980s, federal authorities said in the release.
Prosecutors said Sam and Alex Nguyen were advised multiple times by IRS auditors to implement an anti-money laundering program, required by federal law, which the couple did not do.
The defendants are scheduled to be arraigned in June 2026, when Alex Nguyen will face up to eight years in federal prison, Sam Nguyen will face up to five years in federal prison and Newport Gold Post will face a maximum sentence of five years of probation and a $500,000 fine.