Singaporean Man Pleads Guilty to Stealing $245 Million in Bitcoin

A 22-year-old man from Singapore, Malone Lam, has pleaded guilty to stealing nearly $245 million in Bitcoin from a Washington D.C. resident and using the laundered proceeds for a wild spending spree.

Lam was an organizer of a network of young men who carried out a string of crypto scams starting in 2023. He is one of 18 defendants charged in the case, with Lam's conviction marking a major breakthrough for the Justice Department's investigation.

In August 2024, Lam and his co-conspirators used social engineering techniques to dupe the victim into giving them access to his Google Drive and revealing security codes that allowed Lam to siphon off over 4,100 Bitcoin. The stolen funds were then laundered and covertly turned into cash.

Lam's spending spree lasted a month, during which he purchased a fleet of sports cars, rented mansions in Miami, and spent millions at nightclubs. He even bought a $2 million watch and over 30 cars, including custom Porsches, Lamborghinis, and Ferraris.