A 22-year-old California man, Evan Tangeman, pleaded guilty in the case, which in recent years has become one of the largest series of crypto social engineering crimes in the United States. Authorities say the group obtained about 4,100 bitcoins from its victims between October 2023 and May 2025, worth about $263 million at the time of the thefts. According to prosecutors, Tangeman participated in the money laundering portion and facilitated a total of at least $3.5 million. “wash clean”.
How did the network work?
The research material based on the criminal organization did not start as a classic hacker team controlled from one location. Rather, it was a network of young people connected from online gaming communities, who later specialized in different roles. There were those who focused on acquiring databases and hacking systems, others worked on selecting targets, and separately “callerek” The victims were tricked into believing that their accounts were in such urgent danger “in safety” they have to post their crypto.
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It was spent on a luxurious lifestyle
According to the indictment, some of the acquired wealth appeared in real life remarkably quickly: in the form of financing luxury cars, watches, clubs, private jets, security services and expensive rental properties. Tangeman’s job was to convert crypto into cash in large quantities and then use fake names to help manage leases, thus hiding the real beneficiaries.
Why is this case important for the crypto market?
The case clearly shows that modern crypto fraud is no longer based on mere technical tricks, but on psychological manipulation and organized logistics at multiple levels. It is also significant that Tangeman is the ninth defendant to plead guilty, which may indicate that the Public Prosecution Service is getting closer to mapping the entire network.
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