Party’s over for crypto scammers who went on a spending spree after a $240 million bitcoin theft
Prosecutors say the group used social engineering to drain more than 4,100 bitcoin and then spent the proceeds on luxury cars, watches and mansions.
- On Tuesday, alleged ringleader Malone Lam, a 22-year-old eighth-grade dropout from Singapore, faces a plea agreement hearing in connection with orchestrating a $240 million cryptocurrency theft, one of the largest in U.S. history.
- Callers impersonating Google and Gemini representatives manipulated a Washington resident on August 18, 2024, into revealing security codes for his Google Drive, allowing Lam to siphon over 4,100 bitcoin. The network, formed through online gaming forums, had executed similar multimillion-dollar thefts since late 2023.
- Lam spent over $569,000 in one evening at a Los Angeles nightclub and purchased a $2 million watch and over 30 luxury vehicles using stolen cryptocurrency. U.S. Magistrate Alicia Valle expressed astonishment, remarking "I could only think of Ferris Bueller gone bad."
- FBI agents arrested co-conspirators Jeandiel Serrano at Los Angeles International Airport on September 18, 2024, and Veer Chetal in Brunswick, New Jersey, recovering roughly $20 million and $37 million in stolen crypto respectively. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly has sentenced three associates to approximately six years each.
- The charges against Lam and 17 others exemplify an increasingly common form of cybercrime, as complaints of cryptocurrency fraud to the FBI rose nearly 50% in 2025 while the Justice Department disbanded its dedicated crypto prosecution unit. Cybersecurity researcher Allison Nixon advocates for more law enforcement resources to counter The Com subculture.
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Singapore man pleads guilty to orchestrating $240 million bitcoin theft from D.C. resident
A 22-year-old man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to teaming up with friends to steal nearly a quarter-billion dollars in bitcoin from a Washington, D.C., resident - one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts in U.S. history - and then embarking on a wild spending spree with the laundered proceeds.
Sydney Morning Herald
‘Ferris Bueller gone bad’: The 22-year-old who went on a spending spree after stealing $339 million
Malone Lam pleaded guilty to teaming up with friends to steal bitcoin before using the proceeds to buy a fleet of sports cars, rent mansions in Miami and spend millions at nightclubs, including $US569,000 in one night in Los Angeles.
$240 million theft busted, man jailed for up to 20 years – The...
A 22-year-old man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to teaming up with friends to steal nearly a quarter-billion dollars in bitcoin from a Washington, D.C., resident — one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts in U.S. history — and then embarking on a wild spending spree with the laundered proceeds. Malone Lam,... Read More The post $240 million theft busted, man jailed for up to 20 years appeared first on The Horn News - Proudly American, Fiercely Inde…
A 22-year-old Singaporean has pleaded guilty to his role in one of the largest cryptocurrency heists in U.S. history, after he and his accomplices stole about $245 million worth of Bitcoin from a Washington resident. Malone Lam, who dropped out of school in the eighth grade and later moved to the United States, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a federal charge of criminal conspiracy. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for the crime. L…
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