Singaporean National Pleads Guilty to $245 Million Crypto Heist
A 22-year-old Singaporean national has pleaded guilty to orchestrating one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts in US history, involving over $245 million in stolen and laundered digital assets.
Lam, who used several aliases including 'Anne Hathaway,' '$$$', and 'King Greavy,' was described as the ringleader of an international network that targeted cryptocurrency investors through sophisticated social-engineering scams to access their digital assets.
The group allegedly posed as representatives of Google and cryptocurrency exchange Gemini to trick a victim in Washington, DC into providing access to his Google Drive and security codes, enabling them to steal over 4,100 Bitcoin on August 18, 2024.
The stolen cryptocurrency was moved through multiple wallets, money launderers, and exchanges to conceal its origin and convert the funds. Investigators received a major breakthrough when one of the co-conspirators allegedly failed to hide his IP address while creating an account containing nearly $30 million in stolen funds.