Seattle – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington has initiated a civil action to forfeit approximately $7.1 million in cryptocurrency tied to an oil and gas investment fraud scheme. This was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller.
“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.”
The forfeiture filing details how, between August 2022 and August 2024, victims were misled into sending money for purported oil tank storage investments in Rotterdam or Houston. They were promised profits from renting out these storage facilities but received no information post-investment, with communication ceasing entirely.
Geoffrey K. Auyeung, a resident of Newcastle, Washington, was indicted in August 2024 as part of the scheme. He allegedly received significant proceeds from the fraud, which were then distributed across multiple financial accounts and converted into cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum on exchanges such as Binance.
Seized cryptocurrency accounts were linked to individuals in Russia and Nigeria, with some funds reportedly directed toward exchanges involved in laundering activities for criminal organizations.
Upon Auyeung's arrest, authorities seized $2.3 million from his bank accounts; this is separate from the $7.1 million in cryptocurrency targeted for forfeiture.
If approved by the court, these funds will be returned to defrauded victims. Investigators have identified numerous victims who collectively lost about $17.9 million; this number may rise as more victims are confirmed.
The investigation is being conducted by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), while Assistant United States Attorneys Jehiel Baer and Yunah Chung are handling prosecution duties.
