U.S. Attorney Timothy Duax | U.S. Department of Justice
A Minnesota woman has been sentenced to ten years in federal prison for defrauding a nail salon owner of over $100,000 and attempting to hide the fraud through "bill stuffing" at an Iowa casino. Mary Kate Nguyen, 37, from Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, pleaded guilty on April 23, 2023, to wire fraud and contempt of court.
Nguyen admitted in court that she deceived a nail salon owner by claiming she operated a loan brokering business called “My Second Chance Financing, Ltd.” She promised to improve the victim's credit by obtaining loans in her name and paying them off. Instead, Nguyen used the victim’s identity to secure more than $90,000 in loans from four financial institutions and directed the victim to wire money under false pretenses. The funds were not used as promised but rather for Nguyen's personal benefit.
Between December 2016 and February 2017, Nguyen engaged in "bill stuffing" at a Northwood, Iowa casino. This practice involves creating slot machine tickets by inserting cash and then cashing out those tickets to disguise the origin of illegal funds.
After being indicted by a grand jury in late 2021 and released pending trial, Nguyen violated pretrial conditions by using methamphetamine and fleeing supervision. She was apprehended by U.S. Marshals in September 2022.
While on release and later while incarcerated in Orange City, Iowa, Nguyen attempted further financial frauds across Minnesota and North Dakota. Her schemes included providing fraudulent bank documents to secure loans for purchasing properties. Notably, she submitted a $1.3 million bid for a former federal courthouse in Bemidji, Minnesota. She also obstructed justice by threatening investigators.
Nguyen's criminal history includes convictions for theft by swindle, driving while impaired, theft by check, giving false information to law enforcement officers, and drug possession.
Judge Leonard T. Strand sentenced Nguyen in Sioux City with comments highlighting her actions as "incredible" and "stunning," describing her as an "extreme danger" with respect to financial crimes. Besides the prison term of 120 months and a $20,000 fine, she must pay restitution of $131,175 and will serve five years of supervised release post-incarceration.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Timothy L. Vavricek with investigations conducted by various agencies including the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation-Special Enforcement Operations Bureau among others involved from both Iowa and Minnesota.