A man in California admitted to laundering money for a cryptocurrency scam involving $263 million

The U.S. Department of Justice announced today that 22-year-old California man Evan Tangeman has pleaded guilty to money laundering for a cryptocurrency fraud ring involving $263 million. He laundered over $3.5 million for the fraud group. The Department of Justice stated that Tangeman is the ninth defendant to plead guilty in this investigation.

The organization carried out fraudulent activities from October 2023 to May 2025. They stole approximately 4,100 bitcoins, worth $263 million at the time, which is about $371 million at current prices. The group consisted of hackers, organizers, target identifiers, phone scammers, and burglars specialized in stealing hardware wallets, using stolen databases to select targets. Hackers breached websites and servers to obtain cryptocurrency-related databases, while target identifiers used this data to filter the most valuable victims.