Singapore Man Pleads Guilty to $240M Bitcoin Heist
A 22-year-old man from Singapore has pleaded guilty to orchestrating one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts in U.S. history, involving nearly a quarter-billion dollars' worth of Bitcoin.
Malone Lam teamed up with friends to steal over $245 million in Bitcoin from a Washington D.C. resident using social engineering techniques in August 2024. Lam and his co-conspirators posed as representatives of Google and the Gemini crypto exchange to dupe the victim into revealing security codes that allowed them to siphon off over 4,100 Bitcoin.
Lam used the laundered proceeds to buy a fleet of sports cars, rent mansions in Miami, and spend millions at night clubs. He even purchased a $2 million watch and over 30 cars, including custom Porsches, Lamborghinis, and Ferraris.
The spending spree lasted a month before FBI agents arrested Lam in Miami. An off-duty law enforcement officer had tipped off Lam that authorities were on their way to arrest him, allowing him to make one last big purchase: $569,000 at an LA night club.