Man from Washington State, USA, sentenced to 5 years for aiding in money laundering of nearly $100 million in cryptocurrency

Odaily Odaily reports that the U.S. Department of Justice stated in a press release that a 47-year-old resident of Newcastle, Washington, Geoffrey K. Auyeung, has been sentenced to 5 years in prison for conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Geoffrey K. Auyeung assisted overseas scammers in transferring nearly $100 million in investment fraud proceeds through bank accounts and cryptocurrency exchanges. The scammers deceived victims into investing in the oil and gas industry, luring them to transfer funds into so-called escrow accounts. To facilitate this, Geoffrey K. Auyeung established at least nine entities to receive funds, which were then transferred overseas or exchanged for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT, and USDC via exchanges like Gemini, Coinbase, and BitStamp. Most of these cryptocurrencies were subsequently sent to Binance accounts controlled by individuals in Nigeria and Russia.

Geoffrey K. Auyeung opened at least 81 bank accounts across 24 financial institutions and 19 accounts across 8 cryptocurrency exchanges, receiving a total of $97.1 million in wire transfers and deposits. Through his involvement in the scheme, he earned at least $4 million in commissions and received an additional $400,000 in commissions through accounts under his wife's name between August 2024 and December 2025. Auyeung pleaded guilty in February of this year. He will forfeit approximately $2.3 million seized from bank accounts and his home, an Audi SQ8, and has agreed to forfeit approximately $7.1 million worth of cryptocurrency. (The Block)