Evan Tangeman, 22, of Newport Beach, California, received a 70-month federal prison sentence on April 24 for laundering millions in stolen Bitcoin as part of a multi-state criminal ring that took more than $263 million from victims across the United States. U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly also ordered three years of supervised release following his time in prison.
Tangeman was the ninth person to plead guilty in the investigation, entering his plea on December 8, 2025, to one count of RICO conspiracy. He admitted in court to laundering at least $3.5 million for the criminal group, which prosecutors called the Social Engineering Enterprise.
The Cash-Out Pipeline That Kept the Ring Running
What prosecutors laid out in court documents was not just a story about excess. Tangeman ran the financial exit layer for the entire operation. He used bulk-cash converters to swap stolen cryptocurrency for fiat currency, then worked directly with real estate agents in Los Angeles to secure mansions worth between $4 million and nearly $9 million. Members of the enterprise were unemployed young men, many under 20. They could not rent homes for $40,000 to $80,000 per month without triggering scrutiny. Tangeman placed false names on lease documents to conceal who actually lived in them.
When the ring relocated operations to Miami in September 2024, Tangeman set up housing there too. During one August 2024 exchange, immediately following the group’s single largest theft, he helped co-defendant Malone Lam collect approximately $3 million in fiat cash for a rental property, according to court filings.
The scheme itself began no later than October 2023. It grew from friendships formed on online gaming platforms and stretched across California, Connecticut, New York, Florida, and abroad. The enterprise split into defined roles: database hackers, target identifiers, callers impersonating tech support, residential burglars stealing hardware wallets, and money launderers like Tangeman.
A $263 Million Bitcoin Theft Now Worth Far More
The ring’s largest known theft happened on August 18, 2024. Co-defendants Malone Lam, Danish Zulfiqar, and others contacted a victim in Washington, D.C., and through social engineering obtained more than 4,100 Bitcoin. That haul was worth $263 million at the time of the theft. It is now valued at over $368 million.
The FBI’s Washington Field Office and IRS Criminal Investigation’s D.C. office handled the investigation alongside the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. The FBI’s Los Angeles and Miami field offices provided additional operational support.
Tangeman went by online aliases including “E,” “Tate,” and “Evan|Exchanger.” He was compensated directly for his laundering work. Co-defendant Lam arranged for the purchase of a widebody Lamborghini Urus for Tangeman. When federal agents executed a search warrant on Tangeman’s residence, they seized a black 2022 Rolls Royce Ghost valued at more than $300,000 and a white-and-black Porsche GT3 RS.
Evidence Destruction After the First Arrests
Things shifted after Lam and co-defendant Jeandiel Serrano were arrested. Tangeman accessed home security systems to take screenshots of FBI agents searching residences. Then he directed co-defendant Tucker Desmond to retrieve and destroy digital devices belonging to members of the enterprise.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro addressed that decision directly at sentencing.
“This criminal enterprise was built on greed so brazen it borders on the cartoonish. They stole millions, spent it on half-million-dollar nightclub tabs, Lamborghinis, and Rolexes. But Evan Tangeman didn’t just launder the money that fueled that lifestyle. When his co-conspirators were arrested, he moved to destroy the evidence.”
The stolen funds also went to nightclub bills running up to $500,000 per evening, luxury watches valued between $100,000 and $500,000, designer handbags given away at parties, private jet rentals, a team of private security guards, and a fleet of at least 28 exotic cars ranging from $100,000 to $3.8 million, according to the Department of Justice.
The FBI’s Washington Field Office, posting on X, confirmed Tangeman’s sentencing, noting he laundered millions for the scheme and received luxury vehicles as payment.
According to the FBI Washington Field Office on X, Tangeman “laundered millions of dollars for members of the scheme and received luxury goods, including expensive vehicles, in exchange for his illicit services.”
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Will Hart of the Fraud, Public Corruption, and Civil Rights Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
Nine guilty pleas have now been entered in the investigation. Three additional defendants, Nicholas Dellecave, Mustafa Ibrahim, and Danish Zulfiqar, were charged under a second superseding indictment. The broader investigation remains active.
