Singaporean Man Pleads Guilty to Orchestrating $245M Bitcoin Heist
A Singaporean man has pleaded guilty to orchestrating one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts in U.S. history, stealing nearly $245 million worth of Bitcoin from a Washington D.C. resident.
Malone Lam, an eighth-grade dropout who moved to the U.S. from Singapore, faces up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to federal racketeering conspiracy charges.
Lam was part of a network of young men who carried out multiple crypto scams starting in 2023, according to prosecutors.
In August 2024, Lam and his co-conspirators used social engineering techniques to dupe the Washington D.C. resident into giving them access to their Google Drive and revealing security codes that allowed them to siphon off over 4,100 Bitcoin.
Lam then laundered the stolen crypto into cash, using it to buy a fleet of sports cars, rent mansions in Miami, and spend millions at night clubs.