Pair charged with swindling retiree out of $3M, then living it up on the Strip

Hiep Cong Van and Thy Minh Phan spent the last year living like high rollers on the Strip until the law caught up with them.

Van, 39, who is married and runs landscape companies in Colorado, and Phan, 36, who works as a manicurist at a nail salon in the state of Washington, were arrested in Las Vegas last week on conspiracy, fraud and money laundering charges in a federal indictment returned in Portland.

The indictment alleges the couple swindled a man identified only as "R.W." out of his retirement savings, roughly $3 million, primarily under the guise of obtaining loans to bail out Van's struggling landscaping business. R.W. is a former customer of Van's who retired and moved to Oregon.

"At one point, defendant Van acted as if his financial circumstances were so dire that he was contemplating suicide," the indictment alleges.

But instead of putting the money toward his business, Van and Phan spent roughly $2.5 million gambling in Las Vegas at Bellagio, MGM Grand, Caesars Palace and Aria, the indictment alleges.

In court late Friday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Knief said the couple were treated as high rollers at the casinos with free meals and hotel rooms, as they gambled away the man's money.

A federal magistrate judge ordered the two defendants, whom Van described as being in a dating relationship, detained in federal custody and transported to Portland to face the 31-count indictment.

The indictment alleges Van falsely claimed he was going through a divorce and would repay the victim with interest. He told R.W. that he would use the money for advertising, payroll, fuel costs and other business expenses, including putting a down payment on a truck.

Federal prosecutors in Portland have filed forfeiture counts seeking to recover the $3 million.

Contact reporter Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135. Follow @JGermanRJ on Twitter.