A Beaverton Army captain who stole nearly $700,000 in government cash intended for humanitarian relief, reconstruction programs and security contracts in Iraq, pleaded guilty today to theft charges.



Capt. Michael D. Nguyen, a 28-year-old West Point graduate based out of Fort Lewis, Wash., acknowledged that he stole government property and illegally structured financial transactions.



Both charges carry penalties of up to 10 years in prison and a $500,000 fine. He is scheduled for sentencing on March 1 in Portland's U.S. District Court.



The Army deployed Nguyen to Iraq in April 2007, where he became a battalion civil affairs officer in the Sunni stronghold of Muqdadiyah, a town of 80,000 about 50 miles northeast of Baghdad. He was assigned to manage Commander's Emergency Response Program funds, which came in bundles of uncirculated $100 bills.



One of Nguyen's duties was to make monthly payments of $300,000 to the Sons of Iraq, a Sunni-based group under contract to provide security services throughout the nation, according to a March 3 indictment filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon.



The money was stored in a battalion safe.



"Capt. Nguyen was the only person within his battalion who had the combination to the safe," the indictment alleged. "At any given time, Capt. Nguyen had in excess of $300,000 in U.S. currency in the safe."



Nguyen stole more than $690,000 of this money between April 2007 and the end of his tour in June 2008 and mailed it to his Beaverton home, government prosecutors allege. When he returned to Oregon, he banked $387,550 of the stolen cash at Bank of America, Washington Mutual Bank, America's Credit Union and Heritage Bank.



Internal Revenue Service investigators found that Nguyen made repeated deposits of cash into those personal accounts, always less than $10,000. Deposits greater than that require the depositor to declare the money with the government in a currency transaction report.



Nguyen made so many deposits, sometimes in a single day, that he exceeded the legal limit, according to the indictment.



"After depositing the currency in the accounts, Capt. Nguyen purchased a 2008 BMW M3 and a 2009 Hummer H32," the government alleged.



Nguyen also purchased computers, electronics, furniture and firearms, the government alleges. Agents searching his home found $300,000 in stolen currency.



Nguyen's guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Ancer L. Haggerty included an agreement to forfeit all the money and property derived from his thefts, reported the U.S. attorney's office for the district of Oregon.



-- Bryan Denson





