PANews reported on December 9th that, according to The Block, the U.S. Department of Justice announced today that a key figure in a $263 million social engineering scam has pleaded guilty. Evan Tangeman, a 22-year-old California resident, admitted before U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly to participating in a conspiracy under the Anti-Extortion and Bribery Organizations Act, laundering over $3.5 million for the scam. The statement noted that Tangeman is the ninth defendant to plead guilty in the investigation. This social engineering scam was carried out between October 2023 and May 2025. The criminal group initially consisted of a network of online gaming platform friends scattered across California, Connecticut, New York, Florida, and overseas. The scam stole approximately 4,100 bitcoins, worth $263 million at the time; these bitcoins are now worth $371 million. The group comprised hackers, organizers, target identifyrs, phone scammers, and residential burglars targeting hardware wallets, who used the stolen databases to pinpoint targets. Hackers breached websites and servers to obtain cryptocurrency-related databases, which the target identifyrs then used to identify the most valuable targets. Tangeman's sentencing date is set for April 24, 2026. Previously, it was reported that U.S. man Kunal Mehta pleaded guilty to helping launder $263 million in cryptocurrency assets and had purchased 28 luxury cars for his gang.PANews reported on December 9th that, according to The Block, the U.S. Department of Justice announced today that a key figure in a $263 million social engineering scam has pleaded guilty. Evan Tangeman, a 22-year-old California resident, admitted before U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly to participating in a conspiracy under the Anti-Extortion and Bribery Organizations Act, laundering over $3.5 million for the scam. The statement noted that Tangeman is the ninth defendant to plead guilty in the investigation. This social engineering scam was carried out between October 2023 and May 2025. The criminal group initially consisted of a network of online gaming platform friends scattered across California, Connecticut, New York, Florida, and overseas. The scam stole approximately 4,100 bitcoins, worth $263 million at the time; these bitcoins are now worth $371 million. The group comprised hackers, organizers, target identifyrs, phone scammers, and residential burglars targeting hardware wallets, who used the stolen databases to pinpoint targets. Hackers breached websites and servers to obtain cryptocurrency-related databases, which the target identifyrs then used to identify the most valuable targets. Tangeman's sentencing date is set for April 24, 2026. Previously, it was reported that U.S. man Kunal Mehta pleaded guilty to helping launder $263 million in cryptocurrency assets and had purchased 28 luxury cars for his gang.