Evan Tangeman, a 22-year-old from Newport Beach, California, pleaded guilty to his role in a scheme that used social engineering tactics to steal hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency across the United States. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
Tangeman is the ninth individual to plead guilty in this ongoing investigation. He admitted before U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly that he helped launder at least $3.5 million for the criminal enterprise. Sentencing is set for April 24, 2026.
A Second Superseding Indictment has also been unsealed, charging three more individuals with their involvement in what authorities call the Social Engineering Enterprise (SE Enterprise). The newly charged defendants are Nicholas Dellecave, known as “Nic” and “Souja,” Mustafa Ibrahim, known as “Krust,” and Danish Zulfiqar, also referred to as “Danny” and “Meech.” All are charged with RICO conspiracy alongside others already indicted. Dellecave was arrested in Miami on December 3, 2025; Zulfiqar and Ibrahim were recently arrested in Dubai on related charges.
According to the indictment, the SE Enterprise began operating no later than October 2023 and continued through at least May 2025. The group originated from relationships formed on online gaming platforms and included members based in California, Connecticut, New York, Florida, and other locations abroad.
Tangeman’s role within the group involved laundering money alongside other activities carried out by members such as hacking databases, organizing operations, identifying targets, making fraudulent calls, and burglarizing homes to steal hardware wallets containing virtual currency.
Court documents state that stolen databases were used to identify victims whose cryptocurrency was then taken through various schemes. The proceeds funded luxury purchases including nightclub services costing up to $500,000 per night, expensive handbags distributed at parties, watches valued between $100,000 and $500,000 each, high-end clothing worth tens of thousands of dollars, rentals of homes in Los Angeles, the Hamptons and Miami at rates between $40,000-$80,000 per month or higher for some properties (with Tangeman using false names on leases), private jet rentals, private security teams and a collection of at least 28 exotic cars ranging from $100,000 up to $3.8 million each.
The indictment alleges that on August 18, 2024 Tangeman’s co-conspirators Malone Lam and Danish Zulfiqar contacted a victim in Washington D.C., fraudulently obtaining over 4,100 Bitcoin—valued then at $263 million and reportedly worth more than $368 million this week.
Tangeman met other group members when Lam relocated to Los Angeles in late 2023 seeking help finding rental homes paid for with stolen cryptocurrency. Tangeman facilitated these transactions by exchanging stolen digital assets for cash using bulk-cash converters and concealing true ownership with false lease information.
After Lam’s arrest in Miami on September 18, 2024 Tangeman accessed home security systems remotely to capture screenshots of FBI agents searching residences linked to the scheme. He also instructed another member of the enterprise to retrieve digital devices from Lam’s Los Angeles residence and destroy them.
The case is being investigated by multiple agencies including the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia; FBI field offices in Washington D.C., Los Angeles and Miami; IRS-Criminal Investigation Washington D.C.; along with support from U.S. Attorney’s Offices in California (Central District), Florida (Southern District), and New Jersey (District).
Assistant United States Attorney Kevin Rosenberg is prosecuting the case as Co-Chief of the Fraud, Public Corruption & Civil Rights Section at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C.
