A 22-year-old California man has been sentenced to 70 months in federal prison for his role in laundering proceeds from one of the largest and most organized Bitcoin theft operations ever prosecuted in the United States.
Evan Tangeman of Newport Beach was sentenced on April 24, 2026, by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in Washington, D.C. He also received three years of supervised release.
Tangeman had pleaded guilty on December 8, 2025, to a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) conspiracy charge, the same legal instrument historically used to prosecute organized crime syndicates, and admitted to laundering at least $3.5 million in stolen digital assets for the group. He was known within the network by the aliases “E,” “Tate,” and “Evan|Exchanger.”
Tangeman’s Role in the Criminal Network
The U.S. Department of Justice described Tangeman as a dedicated money launderer whose primary function was converting stolen cryptocurrency into usable fiat cash. He also worked with Los Angeles real estate agents, using fake identities, to secure luxury mansions for co-conspirators at monthly rents of between $40,000 and $80,000.
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Prosecutors added that when lead co-defendants Malone Lam and Jeandiel Serrano were arrested in September 2024 and the scale of the operation became public, Tangeman directed co-defendant Tucker Desmond to destroy the group’s electronic devices, an act U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro called a clear demonstration of guilt at sentencing.
“Evan Tangeman didn’t just launder the money that fueled that lifestyle,” Pirro said. “When his co-conspirators were arrested, he moved to destroy the evidence. That is consciousness of guilt, and this office and the court have treated that accordingly.”
Federal agents executing a search warrant at his Newport Beach home seized a black 2022 Rolls-Royce Ghost valued at over $300,000 and a Porsche GT3 RS. Separately, court filings confirmed that Malone Lam had arranged the purchase of a Lamborghini Urus as direct payment for Tangeman’s laundering services.
Inside the $263M Bitcoin Heist
The criminal enterprise, called the Social Engineering (SE) Enterprise by prosecutors, began no later than October 2023 and ran through at least May 2025. It grew out of friendships formed on online gaming platforms, eventually growing to more than 14 members across California, Connecticut, Florida, New York, and abroad. Prosecutors have described it as the first Bitcoin-related RICO case in U.S. history.
Their most catastrophic single theft occurred on August 19, 2024, when they drained more than 4,100 BTC, worth approximately $230 million at the time and valued at over $321 million at current prices, from a single victim in Washington, D.C.
The attack was executed through a social engineering call. The perpetrators, including Lam and Serrano, phoned the victim while impersonating Google support staff using a spoofed number.
They persuaded the victim to reset their Gemini two-factor authentication, share their screen using AnyDesk, and transfer funds to a wallet the attackers controlled. Blockchain investigator ZachXBT, whose on-chain analysis was instrumental to law enforcement, later shared a private recording capturing the moment the funds cleared, a voice audibly shouting “We got it!” as the 4,064 BTC transaction confirmed.
It was the group’s lifestyle that exposed them. Lam purchased more than 10 luxury vehicles, including a Pagani Huayra worth $3.8 million, and spent $500,000 on single nights out. Serrano was linked to $18 million in stolen funds after reusing the same profile picture across multiple platforms. ZachXBT published his full investigation on X on September 19, 2024, publicly identifying Lam, Serrano, and Veer Chetal. All three were arrested within weeks.
Ninth Plea as the Federal Case Keeps Expanding
Tangeman’s December 2025 plea was the ninth in this investigation. In November 2025, Kunal Mehta pleaded guilty to laundering $25 million for the syndicate, reportedly charging a 10% conversion fee. A second superseding indictment filed alongside Tangeman’s plea added three new defendants: Nicholas Dellecave, Mustafa Ibrahim, and Danish Zulfiqar, with Zulfiqar and Ibrahim arrested in Dubai.
ZachXBT confirmed Zulfiqar’s arrest on X, writing: “A superseding indictment confirmed my analysis that Danny / Danish Zulfiqar (Khan) was arrested in Dubai.” The FBI’s Washington Field Office and IRS Criminal Investigation led the investigation. Additional sentencings, including those of Lam and Serrano, are expected in the months ahead.
