A Minnesota woman has been sentenced to ten years in federal prison for defrauding a nail salon owner of over $100,000 and engaging in fraudulent activities 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 that in 2016 she deceived the owner of a Minnesota nail salon by claiming she operated a loan brokering business called “My Second Chance Financing, Ltd.” She promised to help improve the victim's credit by securing and repaying loans. The victim provided her identification details which Nguyen used to obtain more than $90,000 in loans from four financial institutions. Instead of repaying these loans as promised, Nguyen diverted the funds for personal use.
Between December 2016 and February 2017, Nguyen engaged in "bill stuffing" at a Northwood, Iowa casino. This involved creating slot machine tickets by inserting cash and then cashing out those tickets to create a paper trail that concealed the illegal origins of her funds.
In late 2021, Nguyen was indicted by a grand jury and released pending trial. During this period, she violated pretrial conditions by using methamphetamine and eventually evaded supervision until her arrest in September 2022 by the United States Marshal’s Service.
While on pretrial release and later while jailed in Orange City, Iowa, Nguyen attempted further financial frauds across Minnesota and North Dakota. She submitted false bank statements to secure loans for property purchases. In one instance, she placed a winning bid of $1.3 million for a former federal courthouse in Bemidji, Minnesota. Additionally, she obstructed justice by threatening investigators.
Nguyen's criminal history includes multiple convictions for theft-related offenses and driving while impaired among others.
Judge Leonard T. Strand sentenced Nguyen in Sioux City to 120 months' imprisonment with an additional fine of $20,000. She is required to pay restitution amounting to $131,175 to her victim and will serve five years under supervised release post-incarceration.
Judge Strand described Nguyen’s actions during pretrial release as “incredible” and “stunning,” labeling her an “extreme danger” and a “substantial menace” concerning financial crimes.
Nguyen remains in custody awaiting transfer to federal prison. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Timothy L. Vavricek with investigations conducted by various law enforcement agencies including the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation-Special Enforcement Operations Bureau.