HOUSTON – Katherine Le is a well-known jewelry designer whose collection was once sold at Neiman Marcus. She went before a judge Friday to face a money laundering charge though an illegal gambling operation.
Police arrested Le, her husband, Hao Nguyen, Urixie Palacios-Juarez, Jose Palacios-Juarez, Thinh Nguyen and Bic Thuy Nguyen.
Prosecutors said the six allegedly ran three game rooms in the Houston area, where they made and concealed large amounts of cash proceeds from the illegal gaming operation.
"There was a great deal of money that moved through these accounts. The cash that went through the primary four accounts was $360,000, but of course, there's a great deal more to it than that," said Lester Blizzard, an assistant Harris County district attorney.
The cash that allegedly came out of the game rooms was deposited in the various accounts and turned into money orders, gold and other assets that could be moved quite easily.
The six had been under investigation for the past two years, and prosecutors say during that time, the scheme they were running generated over $5 million.
"Prosecutors said they'll start working on copies of the evidence, so we'll start going through everything," Jimmy Ortiz, a lawyer for three of the six.
Friday, a judge reduced Le's bond to $150,000.
