Singaporean Man Pleads Guilty to Leading $245 Million Crypto Theft Ring

Malone Lam, a 22-year-old Singaporean national, has pleaded guilty to participating in a racketeering conspiracy that involved stealing more than $245 million in cryptocurrency.

Lam, who was arrested on September 18, 2024, organized an international network that targeted cryptocurrency holders through impersonation and account takeovers. He used online gaming platforms to recruit participants and operated across several U.S. states and foreign jurisdictions.

The group allegedly included database hackers, target researchers, impersonators, money launderers, and residential burglars. They obtained information from compromised websites, servers, and databases purchased through dark-web markets, which they used to contact wealthy cryptocurrency holders and persuade them to disclose sensitive information.