A Newport Beach man has been sentenced to federal prison for laundering money for a group of young con artists that prosecutors said stole $263 million in cryptocurrency and used the loot to buy luxury cars, rent mansions and private jets and spend up to $500,000 at nightclubs.
Last week, U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Koller-Cotelli sentenced 22-year-old Evan Tangeman to 70 months in federal prison after pleading guilty in December. He also ordered him to be released under supervision for three years.
Tangeman admitted to federal authorities that he laundered at least $3.5 million for the group, which scammed more than $263 million in cryptocurrency from investors in the US.
Federal authorities said Tangeman, whose aliases included “E,” “Tate” and “Ivan|Exchanger,” was One of nine members of a “social engineering crime enterprise” Made up of hackers, scammers, residential thieves and crypto money launderers.
Social engineering is a type of fraud scheme used to trick victims into providing passwords, PINs, and other personal information to fraudsters.
Federal investigators said the group impersonated security technicians and employees of cryptocurrency exchange companies like Coinbase and Gemini to steal from their victims.
“This criminal enterprise was built on greed, so it bordered on the cartoonish,” said US AT. Jeanine Ferris Piro. “They stole millions, spent it on half-million-dollar nightclub tabs, Lamborghinis and Rolexes.”
Federal officials said the group formed through online gaming platforms. Its members, including some teenagers, lived in California, Connecticut, New York, Florida, and other countries.
Federal officials said the group began its crime spree by October 2023 and continued through at least May 2025.
Earlier this year, one of the group’s members, a 17-year-old teen, testified against former Los Angeles police officer Eric Helm, who was convicted last month of robbing the teen of $350,000 worth of cryptocurrency in 2024.
In testifying against Halem, the teen, who was sworn in to testify under his first name Daniel, revealed a subculture surrounding newly created crypto money.
Prosecutors said “Crypto Kids” This also included fixers who provided them with houses, cars, clothes and other luxuries.
The fixers included Tangeman, who federal authorities said not only converted the stolen cryptocurrency into cash, but also worked with real estate agents in Los Angeles to obtain large mansions for members.
He said the group was made up of unemployed youths, often under the age of 20, who were afraid of attracting the attention of authorities because they rented homes for $40,000 to $80,000 a month without any source of income.
“The value of some of those homes ranged from $4 million to nearly $9 million,” federal prosecutors said in a news release announcing Tangeman’s sentencing.
He said the group also has rental homes in the Hamptons, New York, and Miami.
Federal authorities said the money laundered by Tangeman was spent by the group to live a lavish lifestyle, including thousands of dollars spent at nightclubs and thousands of dollars worth of luxury handbags given away at nightclub parties. The group also purchased luxury clothing and watches worth up to $500,000. It also had a fleet of luxury cars ranging from $100,000 to nearly $4 million.
Federal prosecutors said Tangeman was well rewarded for his services. At least one member arranged for the purchase of a wide-body Lamborghini Urus worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
When serving a search warrant at Tangeman’s home, federal agents seized a black 2022 Rolls-Royce Ghost worth more than $300,000. They also confiscated a Porsche GT3 RS.
“Ultimately, when the first members of the criminal enterprise – co-defendants Melon Lamm and Jeandil Serrano – were arrested and the scale of their fraud was exposed, it was Tangeman who took it upon himself to direct co-defendant Tucker Desmond to destroy digital devices belonging to members of the enterprise,” the new release states.
