US Court Sentences Washington Man to 5 Years for $97.1M Crypto Laundering

On June 10, a U.S. federal court sentenced Seattle resident Geoffrey K. Auyeung to five years in prison for operating a cryptocurrency money-laundering scheme that processed $97.1 million in proceeds from an oil and natural gas investment fraud between 2022 and 2024. Victim funds were converted into Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether before being moved through exchanges to obscure the trail. The sentencing, first reported the prior day alongside coverage of Sam Bankman-Fried’s pardon bid and new House crypto tax proposals, underscores intensifying U.S. enforcement focus on crypto-enabled crime and AML compliance burdens for exchanges and wallet providers.