U.S. DOJ Seeks Forfeiture of $7.1M in Crypto Tied to Oil Storage Investment Scam
U.S. authorities move to seize $7.1M in crypto linked to an oil and gas fraud scheme involving accounts in Russia, Nigeria, and Binance.
In its ongoing crackdown on financial crimes involving digital assets, the U.S. Department of Justice has filed a civil suit seeking the forfeiture of approximately $7.1 million in cryptocurrency. The assets were seized in connection with a complex oil and gas investment scam that defrauded victims of tens of millions of dollars between 2022 and 2024.
The civil action, filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Washington, follows a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) probe into fraudulent escrow schemes that promised lucrative returns through investments in oil tank storage facilities in Rotterdam and Houston. Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller confirmed the action, emphasizing swift coordination between investigators and prosecutors to prevent further losses.
“The co-schemers in this fraud moved their ill-gotten gain through various cryptocurrency accounts to try to launder the money stolen from victims,” Miller stated. “Federal investigators moved quickly to trace and seize the cryptocurrency so that some of the losses can be returned.”
The scheme, operating from August 2022 to August 2024, convinced victims to send funds to what they believed were legitimate escrow accounts for oil storage purchases. However, once the money was transferred, all communication ceased, leaving investors with no returns and no recourse.
Geoffrey K. Auyeung, a 47-year-old resident of Newcastle, Washington, has been indicted as a key player in the scheme. He allegedly received a majority of the stolen funds, which were quickly dispersed through a network of at least 81 financial accounts and 19 cryptocurrency wallets. Assets were converted into BTC, USDT, USDC, and ETH, then largely routed through Binance.
Investigators also traced portions of the funds to exchanges in Russia and Nigeria. Some of these platforms have been linked to laundering operations for transnational criminal and terrorist organizations, raising additional concerns over international financial security.
At the time of Auyeung’s arrest, authorities seized $2.3 million in fiat from his accounts. Combined with the crypto under forfeiture, total asset recovery efforts now approach $10 million. Prosecutors expect that number to rise as more victims come forward and additional funds are traced.
If the forfeiture is approved, the recovered assets will be distributed to the fraud’s victims. To date, officials have documented nearly $18 million in confirmed losses from this scam alone—less than one-fifth of the estimated $97 million stolen during the operation.
