SINGAPORE: For more than a year, Singaporean Malone Lam was purportedly the head of a crime ring in the US that stole more than US$263 million in cryptocurrency, laundering the money and breaking into homes.
The 20-year-old, who goes by several monikers online, has already been charged with conducting one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts of an individual in the US.
On Monday (May 19), he was accused of orchestrating a wider scheme involving at least 12 other individuals.
Here’s what we know about the case and what Lam is accused of.
THE CRIME RING
According to court documents, Lam and at least 12 other individuals were part of a crime ring described by US prosecutors as a “social engineering enterprise”.
Lam was allegedly central to the scheme and named in the indictment as one of its two organisers, alongside a man named Conor Flansburg.
The other suspects are Marlon Ferro, Hamza Doost, Kunal Mehta, Ethan Yarally, Cody Demirtas, Aakaash Anand, Evan Tangeman, Joel Cortes, Tucker Desmond and two members named Fnu Lnu 1 and 2.
Almost all of them had online nicknames. Lam had several, including “$$$”, “King Greavys” and “Anne Hathaway”.
Lam’s alleged crimes came to light when he was arrested by the FBI in September last year for purportedly working with another man, Jeandiel Serrano, to steal over US$230 million worth of Bitcoin from a victim in Washington.
Serrano was not named in the latest indictment.
In the latest case, the defendants face charges that include racketeering, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering and obstruction of justice.
It was also revealed that Lam had rejected a recent plea deal after reviewing it with his lawyers.
