Singaporean Man Pleads Guilty to Role in $245 Million Bitcoin Heist
A 22-year-old Singaporean man has pleaded guilty to his role in one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts in US history. Malone Lam, who came to the US from Singapore and dropped out of eighth grade, faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years after pleading guilty to a federal racketeering conspiracy charge.
Lam was part of a network of young men who carried out a string of cryptocurrency scams starting in 2023. He is one of 18 defendants charged in the case and is the 11th to plead guilty, marking a breakthrough for the Justice Department's investigation.
In August 2024, Lam and others used 'social engineering' techniques to dupe a Washington man out of Bitcoin worth over $245 million. They posed as representatives of Google and Gemini to manipulate him into giving them access to his Google Drive and revealing security codes that allowed Lam to siphon off over 4,100 Bitcoin.
Lam laundered and converted the stolen cryptocurrency into cash, which he used to buy a fleet of sports cars, rent mansions in Miami, and spend millions at nightclubs. He spent $569,000 in one evening at a Los Angeles club, authorities said.