Federal prosecutors say a Newcastle man who quietly moved other people’s money for a living just admitted he helped wash nearly $97.1 million that flowed out of bogus oil and gas investments and into a maze of bank accounts and crypto wallets around the globe.
Geoffrey K. Auyeung, 47, pleaded guilty Friday to conspiracy to commit money laundering after admitting he set up shell companies and scores of financial accounts to move investor cash offshore and into cryptocurrency. Sentencing is set for May 12, 2026, and prosecutors say they will urge the judge to give him 63 months in federal prison.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Washington, Auyeung admitted in his plea agreement that he created nine business entities to accept investor payments and opened at least 81 bank accounts and 19 accounts on eight cryptocurrency exchanges. Those accounts processed roughly $97.1 million in third-party wire transfers and deposits. Law enforcement has so far traced about $24.7 million to some 35 victims, and prosecutors say Auyeung collected at least $4,078,348 in commissions. Homeland Security Investigations and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation division led the probe.
How investigators followed the money
Federal filings say victims were told their money would be used to buy or rent oil tank storage in Rotterdam or Houston, a pitch that helped sell the illusion of a sophisticated energy deal. Instead, once funds landed in accounts Auyeung controlled, the money was moved quickly, converted into Bitcoin, Tether, USD Coin and Ethereum, and routed overseas.
Investigators say a substantial portion of those funds ultimately ended up in Binance accounts tied to individuals in Russia and Nigeria. The government says the initial crypto purchases were made on platforms including Gemini, Bitstamp and Coinbase before being transferred on to Binance. Those long, cross-border transaction chains made it far harder to recover the money and to figure out exactly who was victimized, according to KIRO 7.
Plea terms and what he surrendered
Under the plea deal, Auyeung agreed to pay $24,707,031 in restitution. He will forfeit about $2.3 million seized from his bank accounts and home, along with an Audi SQ8, and he will not contest civil forfeiture of roughly $7.1 million seized from cryptocurrency wallets. He also agreed to turn over about $300,000 that remains in his accounts and have that money applied toward restitution.
Prosecutors further allege that Auyeung kept collecting roughly $400,000 in commissions even after he had been indicted, by routing deposits through bank accounts held in his wife’s name, as reported by the Lynnwood Times.
Legal context
Conspiracy to commit money laundering, described in court papers as spending, is punishable by up to 10 years in federal prison. Even so, the plea agreement includes a recommendation from prosecutors that Auyeung receive 63 months in custody, though U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour is not required to follow that suggestion. Judge Coughenour is scheduled to sentence Auyeung on May 12, 2026, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Local background
The criminal case follows months of federal filings and a separate civil forfeiture action that targeted cryptocurrency tied to the scheme last year. Hoodline previously covered the early stages of the case in August 2024 in its initial indictment piece, which detailed the first seizure efforts and an evolving victim and account tally.
Auyeung remains free while he awaits sentencing, and prosecutors say they are still working to identify additional victims and trace more money tied to the sprawling scheme. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jehiel I. Baer and Yunah Chung are prosecuting the case, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office has provided a press contact for further questions, according to the Lynnwood Times.
