Washington State Seizes $7.1M in Crypto from Global Fraud Ring—Here’s What Happened

Another day, another crypto scam unraveled—but this time, the state’s cashing in.

Washington just clawed back $7.1 million in digital assets tied to an international fraud scheme. No fluffy promises of decentralized utopia here—just cold, hard forfeiture.

How’d they do it? By playing the blockchain’s ultimate irony: using its transparency against the bad guys. Every immutable transaction? A breadcrumb trail.

And while regulators fumble with rulebooks, Washington’s AG office just turned crypto’s volatility into a payday. Talk about a bullish case for law enforcement.

Final thought: Maybe criminals should’ve stuck with offshore banks—at least those come with customer service.

Fraudsters Stole $97 Million in Crypto Scheme, New Press Release Shows

According to the July 23 press release, U.S. officials are looking to forfeit $7.1 million, just a sliver of the $97 million stolen by a handful of crypto fraudsters between June 22 and July 24.

U.S. commences civil action to forfeit $7.1 million in cryptocurrency tied to oil and gas storage fraud scheme – Crypto seized from wallets tied to Russian and Nigerian IP addresses https://t.co/LoCQb0yC06

Recovered in December 2024, the illicit funds were laundered as part of a complex oil tank rental scheme involving Newcastle, Washington resident Geoffrey K. Auyeung.

“The co-schemers in this fraud moved their ill-gotten gain through various cryptocurrency accounts to try to launder the money stolen from victims,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Miller. “Federal investigators and prosecutors in our office moved as quickly as possible to trace and seize the cryptocurrency so that some of the losses can be returned to victims.”

Crypto Fraudster Faces Up to 200 Years Behind Bars

Indicted in August 2024, Auyeung and his unnamed co-conspirators allegedly convinced unwitting victims to MOVE their funds into escrow accounts based in Europe and Texas in order to generate “significant profits” from renting out oil tanks there.

Once victims sent their money, the crypto fraudsters stopped responding and shuffled the funds to crypto accounts in Russia and Nigeria—one of which had ties to a terrorist organization.

“The money was quickly moved to one or more of at least 81 different accounts at financial institutions, moved offshore, or moved to one or more of at least 19 different cryptocurrency accounts, where it was used for the purchase of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Tether, USD Coin, and Ethereum,” the press release states.

Auyeung faces a maximum of 200 years behind bars if convicted for the international crypto fraud, though sentencing varies per jurisdiction.