Photo: sourceable

The judge also ordered she forfeit the money she laundered to the Commonwealth.

On 24 December 2014, the Australian Crime Commission began intercepting Nguyen’s mobile phone as part of a joint investigation with the Australian Federal Police into her suspected involvement in money laundering.

Between 24–30 January 2015, Nguyen was heard talking to three Vietnamese-speakers about the upcoming monetary transaction, which was scheduled to take place on 30 January 2015.

She discussed a number of matters with them including the date and time the transaction would take place, arrangements for a corresponding monetary transaction to take place in Vietnam on the same day and at the same time, as well as recent fluctuations in the currency exchange rate between the Australian dollar (AUD) and Vietnamese Dong.

She said the rate would be fixed only on the morning of the transaction, as she was concerned it would not be stable earlier in the morning. She also discussed the fee to be paid in relation to the transaction.

On 30 January, investigators followed Nguyen as she collected the $750,050 from a property in Drummoyne in Sydney, and took it to the suburb of Surry Hills. They then saw Nguyen remove a black bag from the boot of her car and carry it to the front door of 491 Crown St.

Shortly after, police approached Nguyen and seized the cash as well as two mobile phones. One of the phones had a sim card linked to the telephone number that was being intercepted by police.