Washington Man Sentenced to Five Years for Laundering for Overseas Fraudsters: $97.1 Million Passed Through His Accounts, at Least $4.07 Million in Commissions
Geoffrey K. Auyeung, a resident of Newcastle in Washington State, was sentenced in federal court in Seattle, Washington, on June 9, 2026, for laundering money for overseas fraudsters. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd announced that Auyeung was sentenced to five years (60 months) in prison for conspiracy to commit money laundering. He was arrested in August 2024 and pleaded guilty last February; U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour imposed the sentence. Prosecutors had sought 63 months, which was a recommendation, not the sentence imposed.
According to court records, between June 2022 and July 2024, accounts controlled by Auyeung received $97.1 million in third-party wire transfers and deposits, all of which the government believes represent fraud proceeds. Victims were induced to send money to purported escrow accounts to buy oil tank storage in Rotterdam or Houston that they were told they could rent out for profit; once the money arrived it was quickly moved on, sent offshore or converted into cryptocurrency, much of it ending up in Binance accounts controlled by individuals in Nigeria and Russia.
Auyeung set up at least nine entities, opened at least 81 bank accounts at 24 financial institutions and 19 accounts on eight cryptocurrency exchanges, and received at least $4,078,348 in commissions. Even after he was indicted and arrested, he continued communicating with his co-schemers and, between August 2024 and December 2025, accepted about $400,000 more in commissions through bank accounts in his wife's name.
Calculation of restitution was referred to a magistrate judge; the government asked for $24,707,031. Auyeung is forfeiting about $2.3 million in seized funds and cash and an Audi SQ8, agreed not to contest the civil forfeiture of about $7.1 million seized from cryptocurrency wallets, and agreed to relinquish about $300,000 toward restitution. The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations.
Source: IRS Criminal Investigation
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于美国华盛顿州西雅图的美国法院（资料照片），本案在此判刑。美国法警局作品，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The U.S. Courthouse in Seattle, Washington (file photo), where this case was sentenced. Work of the United States Marshals Service, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
