PANews reported on February 21 that, according to the U.S. Department of Justice website, Geoffrey K. Auyeung, a 47-year-old man from Newcastle, Washington, pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in Seattle to conspiracy to launder money, involving nearly $100 million. Under the plea agreement, the man admitted to setting up nine entities to receive funds from victims through fraudulent projects. Once the funds were received, they were quickly transferred to other bank accounts, overseas accounts, or used to purchase crypto assets such as Bitcoin, USDT, USDC, and Ethereum through cryptocurrency exchanges. The crypto assets in question were purchased through exchanges such as Gemini, Bitstamp, and Coinbase. He opened 19 accounts on eight cryptocurrency exchanges, receiving approximately $97.1 million in domestic and international third-party transfers and deposits. The case was announced by the U.S. Attorney's Office, and a sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 12.