Singaporean Pleads Guilty to $245M Bitcoin Heist via Social Engineering
A 22-year-old Singaporean and recent Miami resident, Malone Lam, has pleaded guilty in a Washington, D.C. federal court to one count of participating in a RICO conspiracy tied to the theft and laundering of more than $245 million in Bitcoin.
Lam faces a maximum sentence of 20 years for his role as ringleader of an international cybercrime conspiracy that used social engineering to steal cryptocurrency valued at more than $245 million, according to court proceedings before U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly.
The case centers on an August 2024 theft of more than 4,100 Bitcoin from a Washington-area victim, executed not through a protocol exploit but through impersonation and credential theft.
Prosecutors say two alleged co-conspirators posed as representatives of Google and the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange to manipulate the victim into granting access to his Google Drive and revealing security codes. That access allegedly let Lam siphon off the Bitcoin holdings in one move, without cracking a wallet or brute-forcing a private key.