Newcastle man sentenced to 5 years for $100M oil investment, money laundering scheme

A 47-year-old Newcastle man is heading to federal prison for five years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering in a sweeping international oil and gas investment fraud scheme.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Geoffrey Auyeung set up dozens of bank accounts to funnel money from victims who believed they were investing in overseas oil and gas storage.

“Nearly $100 million in fraud proceeds passed through bank accounts he set up and linked to cryptocurrency exchanges,” federal prosecutors stated.

Auyeung will now have to repay nearly $25 million to the investors he defrauded.

“Mr. Auyeung facilitated a fraud, developed by others, that stole investor money while lulling them with promises of a legitimate escrow account,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd stated. “And even after he was indicted and arrested, Auyeung spent 16 months secretly still communicating with his co-conspirators and continuing to get his illicit fees by having the money go to his wife’s bank accounts. He showed utter disrespect for the law.”

Auyeung pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy to commit money laundering for his role in taking money from investors and forwarding it to coconspirators’ bank accounts and cryptocurrency addresses, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported. He was arrested on a criminal complaint in August 2024 and indicted by a grand jury later that month.

“One victim traveled all the way from the United Kingdom to look Auyeung in the eye at sentencing to tell him, ‘You caused a lot of pain,'” a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office stated.

How the oil and gas investment scheme worked

Auyeung admitted he set up nine different entities to accept money from investors who thought they were investing in the oil and gas industry, according to the plea agreement.

The entities were:

• Sea Forest International LLC
• Apex Oil and Gas Trading LLC
• Navigator Energy Logistics LLC
• Terminal Energy International Escrow Service LLC
• Energo Horizons Logistics (EA) LLC
• Legacy Energy Logistics Transport Group LLC
• Green Tree Gateway LLC
• Dragon Timbers International LLC
• ANS and Partners International Limited

From at least August 2022 to August 2024, co-schemers convinced investors to wire money to what they believed were escrow accounts to buy oil tank storage in either Rotterdam, Netherlands, or Houston. The pitch: investors could earn large profits by renting the oil tank storage to others.

But once the funds hit Auyeung’s accounts, the money was quickly moved into other accounts, sent offshore, or used to purchase cryptocurrencies. Much of that cryptocurrency was transferred to accounts at the exchange Binance — accounts controlled by the same people located in Nigeria and Russia.

Investors were never sent any further information, and Auyeung and others stopped responding.

81 bank accounts, $97 million, and a growing commission

Auyeung opened at least 81 different bank accounts at 24 different financial institutions, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He also opened 19 accounts on eight different cryptocurrency exchanges.

Between June 2022 and July 2024, those accounts took in $97.1 million.

Law enforcement traced deposits to around 35 different people or entities. About $24.7 million came from confirmed victims, and the government believes the rest of the money is also fraudulent.

As Auyeung became more aware of the fraud, prosecutors said, he demanded a higher commission from his coconspirators — ultimately collecting at least $4,078,348 in commission payments.

Auyeung admitted to misleading banks and other financial institutions about the source of the funds and his role in fraud complaints.

Continued the money laundering scheme after his arrest

Even after he was indicted, Auyeung kept communicating with the coconspirators and the investors. Between August 2024 and December 2025, he accepted an additional $400,000 by funneling deposits through bank accounts in his wife’s name.

Restitution, forfeitures, and what Auyeung loses

Auyeung has agreed to pay $24,707,031 in restitution.

He is also forfeiting about $2.3 million in funds and cash seized from his bank accounts and home at the time of his arrest, along with an Audi SQ8. He has also agreed not to contest the civil forfeiture of approximately $7.1 million seized from various cryptocurrency wallets and to relinquish around $300,000 currently in his bank accounts toward restitution.

Frank Lenzi is the News Director for KIRO Newsradio. Read more of his stories here.