Singaporean Pleads Guilty to $245M Crypto Theft Operation
A 22-year-old Singaporean, Malone Lam, has pleaded guilty to participating in a large-scale cryptocurrency theft and laundering operation. He admitted to leading an international network that targeted crypto owners through social engineering and home break-ins to obtain information needed to drain their wallets.
The operation, which lasted from October 2023 to May 2025, involved participants in the US states of California, Connecticut, New York, Florida, and overseas. Lam used online aliases, including 'Anne Hathaway' and 'King Greavy,' to select targets and coordinate roles across the group.
The proceeds of the operation financed an extravagant lifestyle for its members, who spent up to $500,000 on a single nightclub evening and purchased luxury items such as watches worth between $100,000 and over $500,000. They also rented private jets, bought homes in Los Angeles, the Hamptons, and Miami, and employed private security teams.
The operation's scale became public after prosecutors accused Lam of participating in the theft of more than 4,100 Bitcoin from a single Washington, D.C., victim in August 2024. The coins were worth over $230 million at the time they were stolen.