A 22-year-old man from Singapore has entered a guilty plea for orchestrating a worldwide scheme that embezzled and laundered over $245 million in digital currency.
Malone Lam acknowledged his participation in a RICO conspiracy. According to U.S. prosecutors, the group targeted cryptocurrency owners, using various methods to defraud them, including direct theft.
Unveiling the Cryptocurrency Conspiracy
The U.S. Department of Justice reports that this operation started around October 2023 and stretched at least until May 2025.
Members connected via online gaming platforms and were located in California, Connecticut, New York, Florida, and various other global locations.
Lam used online aliases such as “$$$”, “Anne Hathaway”, and “King Greavy”, and was responsible for selecting victims and delegating tasks to group members.
The group’s main strategy didn’t involve directly hacking wallets; instead, they heavily relied on social engineering, which entailed building trust to extract private information from targets.
In the largest recorded theft, the gang impersonated representatives from Google and the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini. They successfully deceived an investor in Washington, D.C., into providing access to their online accounts and security codes.
The victim lost more than 4,100 Bitcoin, equivalent to about $245 million, from their wallet.
Lavish Lifestyle Funded by Stolen Assets
Prosecutors allege that the stolen cryptocurrency was converted to cash to support a lavish lifestyle.
This included expenditures on private jets, rental properties in Miami and the Hamptons, personal security, and high-end fashion. They also acquired luxury watches and exotic cars ranging from $100,000 to $3.8 million.
Some nights out at nightclubs reportedly cost as much as $500,000, with court documents linking Lam to a bill of around $569,000 for a single night in Los Angeles.
Lam was apprehended at a Miami residence he was leasing, and his court appearance before Judge Kollar-Kotelly in a federal district court began on September 18, 2025. On September 8, 2026, he pleaded guilty before federal District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly.
The judge has scheduled a status hearing for December 8. Sentencing for Lam has yet to be determined.
Key Takeaways
- Malone Lam pleaded guilty to a RICO conspiracy involving the theft and laundering of $245 million in cryptocurrency.
- The group acquired wallets by impersonation and deceit, subsequently spending the proceeds on cars, real estate, and nightlife.