Evan Tangeman, a 22-year-old from Newport Beach, California, has pleaded guilty to his role in a social engineering scheme that stole over $263 million in cryptocurrency. He admitted to laundering $3.5 million and aiding the group in renting luxury homes. The plea marks the ninth in a broader Justice Department investigation into the Social Engineering Enterprise.
Evan Tangeman pleaded guilty on December 9, 2025, to participating in a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) conspiracy before U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly. He faces sentencing on April 24, 2026, and remains free pending the hearing. Tangeman's involvement centered on money laundering and logistics for the Social Engineering Enterprise, a criminal group that operated from October 2023 through at least May 2025.
The enterprise formed through online gaming friendships, involving members in California, Connecticut, New York, Florida, and abroad. Responsibilities were divided among database hackers, target identifiers, callers, and residential burglars who targeted hardware cryptocurrency wallets. Hackers accessed or purchased databases listing individuals with large cryptocurrency holdings. Callers impersonated support staff from crypto exchanges or email providers, using tactics like fake push notifications to obtain login credentials, private keys, and account details.
In one major incident on August 18, 2024, co-conspirators Malone Lam and Danish Zulfiqar tricked a Washington, D.C., victim into downloading remote desktop software, stealing 4,100 Bitcoin valued at $263 million at the time—now worth over $368 million. Other victims lost between $600,000 and $14 million, including a July 8, 2024, burglary in New Mexico where thieves stole hardware devices after hacking the victim's iCloud and tracking their location.
Tangeman, who joined in late 2023, converted stolen cryptocurrency to cash via bulk-cash converters and used it to rent luxury homes in Los Angeles, the Hamptons, and Miami, often under false names. Rentals cost $40,000 to $80,000 monthly. He also helped secure $3 million in cash for Lam to fund a property. After Lam's arrest on September 18, 2024, in Miami—where he discarded his phone in Biscayne Bay—Tangeman accessed home security cameras to monitor an FBI search of Lam's Los Angeles residence and shared screenshots with the group. He instructed another member to retrieve and destroy digital devices from the property.
The group laundered funds through exchanges and mixers, distributing cash in bags or stuffed dolls. Stolen money funded extravagant spending, including $500,000-per-night nightclub services, private jets, international vacations, luxury handbags and watches ($100,000 to $500,000), designer clothing, security guards, and at least 28 exotic cars ($100,000 to $3.8 million). By 2024, members began carrying firearms. They communicated via Telegram and Signal, frequently changing usernames.
Tangeman's plea coincided with the unsealing of a second superseding indictment charging three more defendants: Nicholas Dellecave (arrested in Miami on December 3, 2025), Mustafa Ibrahim, and Danish Zulfiqar (both arrested in Dubai). The investigation continues, with no details on recovered Bitcoin or restitution. Prosecutors note the group's lavish lifestyle helped expose their activities.