Malone Lam Faces 20 Years After Guilty Plea in $245M Crypto Scheme

Singaporean national Malone Lam pleaded guilty to leading an international cybercrime operation that stole and laundered more than $245 million in cryptocurrency. This makes it one of the largest crypto theft cases in US history.

The 22-year-old pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of participating in a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) conspiracy before US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly. Lam faces up to 20 years in prison. A status hearing has been scheduled for Dec. 8.

Press release from the United States Attorney’s Office

Prosecutors said Lam, who used online aliases including “Anne Hathaway,” “$$$” and “King Greavy,” organized an enterprise that grew out of relationships formed on online gaming platforms. The group operated from at least October 2023 through May 2025 and included database hackers, callers, money launderers and even residential burglars.

Lam first attracted attention after an Aug. 18, 2024 attack on a Washington, D.C. resident that resulted in the theft of more than 4,100 Bitcoin, worth over $230 million at the time.

The attackers allegedly impersonated Google and Gemini support representatives and manipulated the victim into surrendering information that ultimately allowed them to access the Bitcoin.

But prosecutors say the operation extended well beyond online social engineering. Members used stolen databases to identify wealthy crypto holders, while physical burglars were allegedly deployed when targets stored funds on hardware wallets. In one case, a conspirator broke into a New Mexico home while Lam allegedly tracked the victim through a compromised iCloud account.

The proceeds funded an extraordinary spending spree. Prosecutors said members rented private jets and mansions in Miami, Los Angeles and the Hamptons, bought luxury watches and maintained a fleet of at least 28 exotic cars. Some of the cars were valued at as much as $3.8 million. Nightclub spending reached as much as $500,000 in a single evening.

The group tried to obscure the money through crypto mixers, exchanges, pass-through wallets, VPNs and “peel chains,” in which funds are progressively moved through numerous transactions.

Lam is now the 11th defendant to plead guilty among 18 people charged in the wider investigation. Other participants have already received multi-year prison sentences. Lam’s sentencing date has not yet been set.