WA state fraudster sentenced to 5 years in prison for aiding foreigners in laundering $100 million through US crypto, bank accounts

A Newcastle, Washington, man has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for helping overseas fraudsters move nearly $100 million in proceeds from an international investment scam through dozens of bank accounts and cryptocurrency exchanges, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.

Geoffrey K. Auyeung, 47, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering after authorities said he created a network of shell companies, bank accounts, and cryptocurrency wallets that allowed scammers operating overseas to conceal and transfer funds stolen from victims.

At a sentencing hearing in Seattle, US District Judge John C. Coughenour said the sentence was driven by “the scope and magnitude of this fraud,” adding that Auyeung “had every reason to know there was something wrong here.”

According to the Department of Justice, fraudsters convinced victims they were investing in lucrative oil and gas ventures, including purported opportunities involving oil storage facilities in Rotterdam and Houston. Victims were told their money would be held in escrow accounts and generate substantial profits. Instead, the funds were funneled through accounts controlled by Auyeung and rapidly transferred elsewhere, sent overseas, or converted into cryptocurrency.

Prosecutors said Auyeung established at least nine business entities and opened 81 bank accounts at 24 financial institutions. He also maintained 19 accounts across eight cryptocurrency exchanges.

Between 2022 and 2024, those accounts received approximately $97.1 million in deposits believed to be entirely fraud proceeds.

The money was converted into digital assets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, and USD Coin, through exchanges such as Coinbase, Gemini, and Bitstamp before being transferred to Binance accounts allegedly controlled by individuals in Nigeria and Russia.

Federal prosecutors said Auyeung earned at least $4 million in commissions for facilitating the scheme and even continued communicating with co-conspirators after his 2024 arrest. According to prosecutors, he routed payments through his wife's bank accounts after being indicted.

“Mr. Auyeung facilitated a fraud, developed by others, that stole investor money while lulling them with promises of a legitimate escrow account,” First Assistant US Attorney Charles Neil Floyd said in a statement. Prosecutors further alleged that Auyeung continued collecting illicit proceeds after his arrest, demonstrating what Floyd described as “utter disrespect for the law.”

As part of the case, authorities seized approximately $2.3 million from bank accounts and Auyeung's home, along with an Audi SQ8. He also agreed not to contest the forfeiture of roughly $7.1 million in cryptocurrency assets and to relinquish additional funds held in bank accounts. Prosecutors are seeking more than $24 million in restitution for victims.