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Case No.
17-01200 KSC
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
COMPLAINT
Plaintiff,
V. Title 18, U.S.C., Section 371-
Conspiracy(Felony)
MINH HUNG NGUYEN,
aka "Bobby,"
Defendant.
I, the undersigned complainant being duly sworn, state the following is true
1. Beginning on a date unknown, but no later than June 21, 2013, and
willfully combine, conspire, and agree together, with each other and with others to
the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Hawaii(USAO-Hawaii), and
present false testimony and evidence in a criminal trial in the United States District
investigation and prosecution of G.K.P. for allegedly stealing a United States Postal
Service mailbox.
conspirators committed the overt acts outlined in the affidavit in support of this
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USPIS Inspector, NGUYEN falsely reported that he was present when co-
conspirator Niall Silva (charged elsewhere) recovered the hard drive from CCl's
residence.
18, United States Code, Sections 371, 1519, 1512(c), and 1001. I am currently
assigned to the White Collar Squad in the Honolulu Division ofthe FBI.
Because ofthe limited purpose ofthis affidavit, it does not contain every fact known
indicated, all dates and times discussed below are approximations in Hawaii Standard
Time.
believe NGUYEN and other co-conspirators did knowingly and willfully combine,
conspire,and agree together, with each other and with others to commit the following
in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1519; to corruptly obstruct,
influence, and impede an official proceeding, in violation of Title 18, United States
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Code, Section 1512(c); and to knowingly and willfully make a materially false,
branch ofthe Government ofthe United States in violation ofTitle 18, United States
knowledge, other law enforcement officers, or from those specific sources as set
forth.
("HPD"), at all relevant times Defendant NGUYEN was a police officer employed
specialized unit of the HPD, chosen by the executive staff of HPD to gather
CIU by a lieutenant and a captain, who ultimately reported to the HPD's Chief of
Police.
discussed more fully below, a video recording was apparently made of the alleged
theft. I have reviewed this video, which shows a white four-door sedan drive up and
park in front ofthe residence. A male then got out ofthe driver's side ofthe vehicle,
walked over toward the mailbox, and with little effort lifted the security-style
mailbox off its post. The male suspect then opened the rear passenger door and
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placed the mailbox inside the vehicle. After closing the door, the male suspect
walked around the rear ofthe vehicle, got back in the driver's seat, and drove away.
THE CONSPIRACY
Silva appeared in United States District Court for the District of Hawaii, waived
Records in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1519; Corruptly
18, United States Code, Section 1512(c); and Making False Statements, in violation
of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001. As part of his guilty plea, Silva
admitted under oath that he agreed with various co-conspirators to commit these
No.l ("CCl"). Silva further admitted that as part of the conspiracy, he and Co-
Inspection Service ("USPIS") Inspector, including the false claim that Silva had
personally retrieved a hard drive containing video evidence from CCl's residence,
when in fact CC2 had retrieved the hard drive from CCl's residence and had
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delivered the hard drive to Silva at HPD headquarters. According to Silva, CC2 is
NGUYEN.^
OVERT ACTS
cause to believe the following overt acts, among others, were committed within the
interview that on Saturday, June 22,2013, he received a call from CC3 on his work
cell phone. At the time, CC3 called Silva to tell him to report to the HPD Main
CC5 were all present at the HPD Main Station when Silva reported to work. When
Silva arrived at the Main Station, NGUYEN handed Silva the hard drive from CCl's
home video surveillance system (which NGUYEN had already taken from CCl's
residence earlier that day). Silva asked NGUYEN whattime he seized the hard drive;
NGUYEN told Silva 9:00am. SILVA wrote down 8:59am on the evidence chain
'Silva has pled guilty pursuant to a plea agreement and is cooperating with the investigation in the
hope ofreceiving a sentencing reduction. United States v. Silva, Case No. CR16-00787-SOM(D.
Hawaii). Although Silva has admitted providing false information to investigators as part of the
conspiracy, and testifying falsely under oath in the criminal trial of G.K.P., the information Silva
has provided in connection with his guilty plea has proven to be reliable and corroborated by other
evidence.
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form. Silva and NGUYEN collectively agreed to put down this false information on
an official HPD form. According to Silva, he processed the hard drive such that
1:31 p.m.,CC1 telephoned 911 to report the alleged theft ofa Postal Service mailbox
from CCl's residence the night before. According to HPD records,at approximately
1:35 p.m., an HPD Patrol Officer arrived at CCl's residence to investigate the
complaint ofthe alleged stolen mailbox. According to this Patrol Officer- who has
been interviewed by the FBI ~ CCl stated someone stole her mailbox and there was
possibly mail inside it. CCl said she may have an idea who stole the mailbox, but
did not want to say anything until the video was reviewed. This statement was the
first time the HPD Patrol Officer was aware ofany video cameras. CCl said she did
not know how to review the video, but she would do so with a relative. CCl said if
she saw anything on the video, she would call 911 and have the video taken as
evidence.
2:30 p.m., Silva was present with NGUYEN reviewing the video captured on the
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hard drive from CCl's residence. According to Silva, NGUYEN identified G.K.P.
advised he had reviewed the surveillance video footage ofthe mailbox theft and was
grand jury testimony, he again identified G.K.P. as the male in the video based on
the male's stature, build, and walk. However, based on my review of the video
footage and observations of G.K.P., and the observations of other persons familiar
with G.K.P. and the footage, the male depicted in the video does not appear to be
G.K.P. In addition, G.K.P. has repeatedly denied being the person who "stole"
July 23, 2015. According to the FBI polygrapher administering this examination,
G.K.P. gave no indications of deception when he denied being the male depicted in
the video. Although polygraph results are generally not admitted into evidence in
other experienced agents with whom I have spoken, I believe that properly
witness.
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excised portions ofdata recovered fi*om the hard drive that NGUYEN retrieved fi'om
and an HPD Follow-up report,completed and signed by Silva on July 1,2013,a total
of four (4) discs containing surveillance video were logged into evidence.
According to Silva, on or about June 22, 2013, after 2:30pm, at the HPD Main
was not submitted into evidence - despite HPD protocol to the contrary. This was
because CC3 (a more senior HPD officer) instructed Silva not to put the original
hard drive into HPD evidence; instead, Silva kept the hard drive in his desk. Silva
inquired with CC3 on three separate occasions as to what he should do with the
original hard drive. CC3 instructed SILVA to hang onto it. According to Silva, the
original hard drive was placed back into circulation in December 2013 on SILVA's
Inspector,at which time he falsely reported that he was present when Silva recovered
the hard drive from CCl's residence on June 22, 2013. In addition to being
contradicted by Silva's admissions under oath in his guilty plea, NGUYEN'S claim
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is contradicted by bank records showing that at the time NGUYEN says he was
meeting with Silva at CCl's residence, Silva was conducting transactions at bank
j. On or about June 18, 2014, at about 10:49 a.m., Silva falsely told a
USPIS Inspector that he personally recovered the hard drive from CCl's residence.
was working properly. He stated he then recovered the hard drive and transported it
and Silva's statements since his cooperation began, Silva and NGUYEN repeatedly
discussed the false statements they were both providing to federal investigators. For
example,on or about June 18,2014,at about 1:17 p.m., after SILVA spoke to USPIS
Inspectors, he called NGUYEN. The next day(Jime 19,2014), Silva again provided
false information to the USPIS Inspector about HPD's "investigation" ofan alleged
mailbox theft from CCl's residence. And the following day(June 20,2014), Silva
or about December 1,2014,NGUYEN and SILVA discussed the false testimony the
conspirators expected to provide at the upcoming federal criminal trial ofG.K.P. for
G.K.P. that on June 22, 2013, at 8:59 a.m., he personally went to CCl's residence,
verified the security system was in good working order on the date and time of the
incident (June 21, 2013, 10:31 p.m.), that recordings were made, and that he
retrieved the recordings from the residence. Silva also confirmed preparing reports
n. Based on cellular telephone records for SILVA obtained by the FBI and
about what Silva had said during his testimony and the false evidence provided in
on or about November 19,2015,at about 3:42 p.m., after being contacted by the FBI
misleading information to the FBI about the alleged mailbox theft from CCl's
residence. NGUYEN stated, amongst other things, that he let Silva into the garage
at CCl's residence on Jime 22, 2013. When SILVA arrived, NGUYEN waited for
Silva to"do his thing." NGUYEN stated he did not witness the extraction ofthe hard
drive from CCl's surveillance system; he just waited for Silva. NGUYEN claimed
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that he and Silva then went to the HPD Main Station together after the hard drive
was extracted.
that MINH HUNG NGUYEN and other co-conspirators did knowingly and willfully
combine, conspire, and agree together, with each other and with others in violation
KEVIN S.C. C
United States Magistrate Judge
District of Hawaii