US looks to grab $7.1M in crypto from oil and gas investment scam

The U.S. government is actively pursuing the forfeiture of $7.1 million in cryptocurrency connected to a large-scale oil and gas investment fraud scheme, which reportedly accrued about $97 million in illicit proceeds between June 2022 and July 2024.

This civil action was filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington on July 22, 2025, following a seizure of the crypto assets by Homeland Security in December 2023. Authorities allege that the scam involved convincing investors to put money into supposed escrow accounts purportedly for purchasing oil tank storage facilities in Rotterdam or Houston. Investors were promised substantial profits; however, the funds were instead diverted by the scammers, including Geoffrey K. Auyeung, who was indicted in August 2024 on multiple money laundering charges.

Prosecutors state that the perpetrators laundered the stolen funds by moving them through 81 different accounts and converting them into cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Tether (USDT), USD Coin (USDC), and Ether (ETH), which were then dispersed across various crypto exchanges, including Binance, often operated by individuals based in Russia and Nigeria.

About $2.3 million was seized from Auyeung’s bank accounts at arrest. If the forfeiture request is approved, the recovered $7.1 million would add to the $2.3 million already seized, allowing roughly $9.4 million to be returned to victims, some of whom have reported losses totaling $17.9 million so far.

This case exemplifies growing U.S. federal efforts to combat sophisticated crypto-related investment fraud, combining traditional fraud schemes with digital asset laundering. It follows a broader crackdown on crypto scams nationwide, with record seizures of illicit cryptocurrency, including a historic $225 million seizure related to other crypto investment frauds earlier in 2025.

Authorities are increasingly using blockchain analysis and inter-agency cooperation to trace, freeze, and reclaim stolen crypto assets and provide restitution to defrauded investors. This enforcement push underscores that cryptocurrencies, despite their complexity and cross-border nature, are subject to legal scrutiny and law enforcement intervention.

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