Cash seized in probe of Laos plot

Agents investigating an alleged plot to overthrow the government of Laos seized more than $146,000 and what they suspect are gold bars from a home owned by the son of the alleged ringleader, court records show.

The seizure occurred at the Fresno home of Chong Vang, the son of 77-year-old Vang Pao, according to records made public Thursday. Vang Pao, a former Laotian military general who helped U.S. forces during the Vietnam War, is one of 10 people facing criminal charges in the case.

Prosecutors accuse the defendants of trying to raise millions of dollars to buy weapons in a plan to overthrow the country's communist government.

Chong Vang has not been charged, but records in U.S. District Court indicate he attended a Feb. 7 meeting at a Thai restaurant in Sacramento with the alleged conspirators. They were meeting with an undercover federal agent posing as a weapons dealer.

After lunch, the group peeked inside a recreational vehicle parked nearby, where they examined samples of weapons provided by the agent, according to the records.

Chong Vang's home and a Fresno flower shop were among 19 locations searched June 4. Warrants were issued at locations ranging from Chico, north of Sacramento, to Vang Pao's home in Orange County.

Agents said they found $64,000 in a suitcase, $59,000 in one briefcase and $18,000 in another briefcase in the master bedroom of Chong Vang's home. They also found $5,200 scattered throughout the house, along with eight bars of what appeared to be gold, according to the documents. The bars had not been tested, prosecutors said.

Attorneys for Vang Pao did not return telephone messages seeking comment. Other lawyers involved in the case said they did not know whether Chong Vang had an attorney.

Chong Vang could not be reached for comment but has previously denied that his father was engaged in illegal activities. Calls to the flower shop went unanswered.

Investigators said they rushed to make arrests at the beginning of the month because the alleged plot called for shipments of arms and cash to be made to Thailand and Laos by the middle of June.

A federal indictment states the defendants agreed to pay $150,000 for the weapons in three installments and were prepared to spend nearly $10 million.

There is no allegation in the court documents made public Thursday that the money seized from Chong Vang's house was for illegal purposes.

Vang Pao led CIA-backed Hmong forces in Laos during the 1960s and 1970s while he was a general in the Royal Army of Laos. He is now the recognized leader of tens of thousands of Hmong refugees in the U.S., most of whom live in California's Central Valley, Minnesota and Wisconsin.