Le Van Hung

Prior-counsel funding pattern is HYBRID with private-money escalation: CJA-paid (Benett 11/15/2024) → Retained solo (Wachtell 12/9/2024) → Retained 2-attorney small firm (Bloch+Kamdang 12/16/2024) → Retained 2-shareholder mid-firm (Braverman+Shockett at Anderson Kill 3/17-3/18/2025) → Retained name-partner large boutique (Parlatore 8/8/2025). Each transition signals increasing legal-spend capacity. CJA-eligible defendants do not normally cycle through 5 retained counsel teams in 9 months.

Le Van Hung (a/k/a Hung Van Le, Van Hung Le), 29, Vietnamese national, charged via Sealed Superseding Indictment S1 24 Cr. 322 (VM) filed 5/23/2024 and unsealed 11/15/2024 in SDNY. Counts: (1) Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering (max 20 yrs); (2) Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud (max 30 yrs); (3) Aggravated Identity Theft (mandatory 2 yrs); (4) Identity Theft Conspiracy (max 15 yrs). Hung was extradited from South Korea on 11/15/2024 (Korean Ministry of Justice cooperation). Detained without bail 12/19/2024 by Magistrate Judge Katharine H. Parker.

Per superseding indictment overview: 'From at least in or about 2020, through in or about May 2024, LE VAN HUNG... and others participated in a sprawling, transnational scheme to launder' the same $67M scheme co-extensive with Guan's. Hung was 'while located in a foreign country' and 'while working in a foreign office of [the] multinational media company.' Government alleges Hung 'recruited and managed various co-conspirators' including those who worked with the Media Company's 'Make Money Online' team, and 'used, possessed, and transferred personal identification information and documents of U.S. residents' to open and maintain financial accounts for laundering. One specific overt act alleged: Hung directed a co-conspirator to call a bank and falsely impersonate the account holder to unlock a frozen account.

The Guan/Hung prosecution is NOT charged as a foreign-agent case. No 18 USC 951 (acting as agent of foreign government) count, no FARA (22 USC 611 et seq.) count, no espionage statute count. Charges are exclusively financial: money laundering conspiracy (1956(h)), bank fraud / bank fraud conspiracy (1344(2)), identity theft conspiracy and aggravated identity theft (1028, 1028A). However, SDNY assigned the case to its Public Corruption Unit and the DOJ press release tags 'NATIONAL SECURITY' as the topic — likely a function of The Epoch Times' high-profile anti-CCP / Falun Gong-affiliated political profile and the international scope of the scheme rather than a charged foreign-agent predicate.

Doc #104 govt opposition memo (AUSA Paul M. Monteleoni, 2025-11-07) and Marrero Order (~Dec 4, 2025) confirm Hung Rule 12 motion package

SDNY 1:24-cr-00322 (Marrero, J.). Government memo in opposition to Guan BoP #86 + Hung BoP #89 + Hung suppress #92 + Hung selective prosecution #95, filed 2025-11-07 with Exhibit A August 2021 Search Warrant. Marrero ORDER published in Leagle infdco20251204g01 opens by acknowledging the BoP motions and the Nov 11 government opposition.

Tim Parlatore filed Notice of Appearance for Le Van Hung as RETAINED counsel on 08/08/2025 in SDNY 1:24-cr-00322 (Doc #68)

Parlatore subsequently filed entire Rule 12 motion package: #89 BoP, #91 memo iso BoP, #92 suppress, #94 memo iso suppress, #95 selective prosecution, #97 memo iso selective prosecution, #106 reply (11/21/2025). 'Retained' status — not court-appointed CJA — implies a paid retainer. Hung is a 29-year-old Vietnamese national extradited from S Korea Nov 2024.

Defense counsel split: Guan retained Petrillo Klein and Boxer (Petrillo Puvalowski Triana); Hung initial counsel Megan Benett of Kreindler and Kreindler (Nov 2024); Parlatore is Hung later substitute, not Guan counsel

FACTS.org.cn (Nov 2024) coverage of Marrero hearing names Guy Petrillo, Kevin Puvalowski and Marcelo Triana of Petrillo Klein and Boxer LLP for Guan; Megan Benett of Kreindler and Kreindler LLP for Hung. Inner City Press 2025-09-08 reports new counsel was Hung third legal team — appears to undercount Wave 5 tally of 5 prior counsel (CJA + Wachtell + Bloch+Kamdang + Braverman+Shockett + Parlatore = 5). Parlatore NoA filed 2025-08-08 (Doc 68). Petrillo Klein is an expensive white-collar boutique; ETAI $122M revenue easily supports Guan defense. Hung defense funding is the harder puzzle — 29yo Vietnamese national has zero plausible personal means.

Anomaly in December 2024 counsel cycling: within 7 days (12/9/2024 to 12/16/2024) Hung went from CJA-appointed Benett (11/15/24) to retained-solo Wachtell (12/9) to retained-team Bloch + Kamdang of Bloch & White LLP (12/16) — a three-firm switch in the same week, immediately after extradition (11/15/24) and before pretrial detention hearing (12/19/24 by Magistrate Parker). This compressed timeline is consistent with: (a) outside funder identifying Wachtell as inadequate within days, (b) outside funder identifying Bloch & White as a better fit (B&W is Sines v Kessler-pedigree civil rights / criminal hybrid firm with national-security case experience via Kamdang's EDNY federal-defender background), (c) defense team shopping for the politically optimal firm/profile to handle a politicized prosecution. The pivot to Anderson Kill (Braverman+Shockett) on 3/17-3/18/2025 — within days of Parlatore's USNR JAG re-commissioning (3/7/2025) — and then to Parlatore himself on 8/8/2025 reflects continued defense-team optimization that no actual indigent defendant could afford.

RECAP gap confirmed: Hung Rule 12 motion package (Docs 89-97 filed 10/8/2025; Doc 106 reply 11/21/2025; Doc 104 USA opposition 11/7/2025; Doc 102 USA consent letter 11/3/2025) is NOT publicly available on CourtListener RECAP — every entry shows is_available=false. Doc 96 description from CL search confirms 'DECLARATION of Timothy C. Parlatore in Support as to Le Van Hung re: 95 MOTION to Dismiss for Selective Prosecution. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A - Press Release)(Parlatore, Timothy)(Entered: 10/08/2025)'. The Press Release attachment frames the political/viewpoint-discrimination theory but the substantive content is paywalled behind PACER. Standard RECAP storage URL pattern (gov.uscourts.nysd.631760.96.0.pdf) returns HTTP 404. Direct PACER pull required.