For Immediate Release: October 16, 2008

FUGITIVE RETURNED TO LOS ANGELES FROM VIETNAM
TO FACE CHARGES FOR 1983 MURDER

 

A man wanted on state murder charges for a 1983 stabbing in Alhambra, California, will be returned to the United States this evening, announced Salvador Hernandez, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI in Los Angeles.

Based on an investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Ninh Kim Nguyen was charged by the State of California for the August 5, 1983 stabbing murder and robbery of Khuyen Thi Buiin in Alhambra, California. At the time of the murder, Nguyen was allegedly trying to defraud the victim in a scheme involving diamonds, with which he allegedly absconded before he fled the United States.

A warrant was issued in Los Angeles County Municipal Court for Nguyen on 8/12/1983, charging him with one count of robbery and one count of murder. On November 1, 1993, the FBI obtained a federal warrant charging Nyugen with Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution.

With the assistance of the FBI’s Legal Attaché stationed in Bangkok, Nguyen was apprehended in Cambodia in 1997 after he fled Vietnam in connection with a separate fraud scheme involving diamonds. When arrested, Nguyen was using the name Juan Ming on a Taiwanese passport. On 6/23/98, Nguyen was convicted in Vietnam and sentenced to a Vietnamese prison for 14 years. Recently, the Vietnamese government agreed to return Nguyen to the United States to face the murder charge.

The FBI Legal Attaché stationed in Phnom Penh recently flew to Vietnam to escort Nguyen to Thailand where a team from Los Angeles, including an FBI agent and an LAPD detective; both of whom are assigned to the Los Angeles Fugitive Task Force, took custody of Nguyen for the flight to Los Angeles.

It is anticipated that the government will dismiss the federal UFAP warrant so that the District Attorney in Los Angeles can proceed with the murder prosecution.

The Department of Justice program known as “Project Welcome Home” is funding Nguyen’s return to the United States. Project Welcome Home provides the funding to assist in the transportation of FBI fugitives to the United States, where the repatriation by the host country occurs through deportation. The successful fugitive investigation of Nguyen was conducted by the FBI's Legal Attaché in Phnom Penn and the FBI’s Fugitive Task Force in Los Angeles.