Malone Lam, a 22-year-old Singaporean citizen who had been living in Miami, pleaded guilty on Sept. 8 to participating in a federal racketeering conspiracy for helping steal more than $245 million in cryptocurrency. Prosecutors say Lam and his associates posed as representatives of Google and the Gemini crypto exchange to convince a Washington, D.C., resident to hand over access to his Google Drive and reveal security codes, giving the group access to more than 4,100 bitcoin worth over $245 million at the time, in one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts in U.S. history. The Justice Department says the international cybercrime operation ran from around October 2023 until approximately May 2025, with members connected through online gaming platforms and based in California, Connecticut, New York, Florida and abroad. Lam used the proceeds to buy more than 30 luxury cars, including custom Porsches, Lamborghinis and Ferraris, a $2 million watch, and to spend millions at nightclubs, including $569,000 in one night at a Los Angeles club. Lam is one of 18 defendants charged in the case and the 11th to plead guilty; he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, with a status hearing scheduled for Dec. 8, 2026.
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