The 78-year-old boss of a money remittance company run from a suburban house in Springvale, who laundered $16.7 million cash in about six months, now faces a prison term.
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Xuan Nhoung Nguyen's daughter Teresa Thi Minh Nguyet Pham, 57, may join him behind bars after she admitted laundering $4 million in five weeks in early 2010.
A Melbourne judge described as ''just nonsense'' a defence lawyer's submission that Pham was not motivated by greed but was ''trying to be a good and efficient employee''.
The County Court heard Nhoung's grandson-in-law, Hiep Long Phi Nguyen, completed membership of the family laundering business by exporting $1.4 million, revealed during an Australian Federal Police operation.
Prosecutor Robert Barry said Thinh Tan Truong, a jeweller and business associate, exported and dealt with $1.8 million in cash that was reasonably suspected of being the proceeds of crime.
Mr Barry told the court the money was laundered in almost 99 transactions between December 2009 and July 2010.
He described Nhoung as the ''boss'' and ''main man''.
Mr Barry told Judge Irene Lawson Pham was principally responsible for conducting transactions.
The four dealt with cash in an ''off-book'' manner, where they covertly moved funds offshore on behalf of people who ''deliberately sought to conceal their identity from Australian law enforcement'', Mr Barry said.
This was done, he told the court, by Nhoung offering to transfer clients' money overseas without the owners' details or source of the cash being recorded or reported to authorities.
These were known as ''off-book'', ''back door'', ''outside'' or ''no-number'' transactions.
All four pleaded guilty to two charges of either exporting or dealing with cash reasonably suspected of being the proceeds of crime. None have prior convictions. Greg Jones, for Nhoung, said his client had failed to meet compliance with his legal obligations and had accepted, to his credit, ''full responsibility'', for which he would lose his licence to operate and therefore his livelihood.
Mr Jones said Nhoung, who had chronic medical conditions and had never been separated from his wife of 60 years, was paid an estimated $320,000 commission, but it was found that 97 per cent of the company's transactions were recorded correctly.
Frank Coyne, for Pham, of Noble Park, and Nguyen, 31, of Fawkner, said their pleas had avoided the necessity of a long and complex trial.
Charlie Nikakis, for Truong, 50, of Keilor Downs, said at no stage had he taken money to others.
They will be sentenced next week.
