Malone Lam, a 20-year-old Singaporean residing in Miami and Los Angeles, was arrested alongside his co-conspirator Jeandiel Serrano, 21, from Los Angeles, for their roles in a significant cryptocurrency theft and money laundering operation. They are accused of conspiring to steal over 4,100 Bitcoin, valued at over $230 million at the time, from a victim in Washington D.C.
The duo allegedly employed advanced techniques to unlawfully access the victim's cryptocurrency accounts and transfer the assets to themselves.
To launder the stolen Bitcoin, Lam and Serrano utilized various methods, including:
Transferring funds through cryptocurrency exchanges and mixing services
Implementing "peel chains," where large sums are split into smaller transactions to disguise the trail
Using pass-through wallets and virtual private networks (VPNs) to conceal their identities
The suspects, who operated under online aliases such as "Anne Hathaway," "$$$," "VersaceGod," and "@SkidStar," reportedly spent the laundered money on:
International travel
Nightclub outings
Luxury cars, watches, jewelry, and designer handbags
Renting upscale properties in Los Angeles and Miami
The FBI arrested Lam and Serrano on Wednesday night, charging them with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering in U.S. District Courts in California and Florida. Investigations are ongoing, with authorities aiming to recover the stolen funds and identify any additional collaborators. These arrests coincide with a cyber challenge involving the IRS-CI and government agencies from Australia, Canada, the U.K., and the Netherlands, focused on improving practices for investigating cryptocurrency crimes.