SINGAPORE, Oct 24 — Twenty-year-old Malone Lam has been charged in the US with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering after allegedly stealing and laundering US$230 million (RM1 billion) in cryptocurrency by pretending to be a Google employee.
Together with co-conspirator, Jeandiel Serrano, they allegedly stole over 4,100 bitcoin from a victim in Washington in a scam that has been described as “one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts from a private individual … in the history of the United States” by prosecutors.
Serrano appeared in court yesterday for a status hearing where both the prosecution and defence were “seeking a resolution of this matter short of a trial”.
They requested about 60 days to continue plea negotiations and will inform the court if a deal is reached before the deadline, reported ChannelNewsAsia.
Court filings unsealed earlier this month detailed how Lam and Serrano, 21, from Los Angeles, allegedly carried out the scam and how they spent the money.
Substantial planning went into the scam, with a co-conspirator causing “unauthorised Google account access” notifications to be sent to the victim in the week leading up to the theft.
Proxy and virtual private network (VPN) services were used to make it appear as if the access attempts were coming from overseas.
Lam and his accomplice called the victim, pretending to be Google support team members claiming there had been a hack attempt on his account and that they needed to shut it down.
The pair ultimately convinced the victim to provide the security codes to his account, before Lam allegedly accessed the victim’s OneDrive and Gmail accounts to locate the cryptocurrency assets.
He also “further scoured” the victim’s private accounts looking for additional information, court documents showed.
One of them called the victim back, posing as a Gemini security team member to convince the victim that his cryptocurrency accounts had also been compromised.
Initially, they allegedly convinced the victim to transfer about US$3 million (RM13.05 million) of cryptocurrency to a crypto wallet controlled by Lam.
They asked the victim to download a remote desktop connection program which gave Lam and Serrano real-time access to the victim’s computer where the latter allegedly manipulated the victim into opening several files, including those with private keys to over 4,100 bitcoin which Lam used to steal the bitcoin.
Prosecutors said they have screen recordings capturing Lam using the “$$$” Telegram handle and “Anne Hathaway” Discord display name to discuss strategies to manipulate the victim.
Serrano used the online monikers “VersaceGod” and “@SkidStar”.
In a police interview, Lam also admitted to using the $$$ Telegram handle, committing cryptocurrency theft and dividing up the stolen funds, as well as laundering these funds through cryptocurrency exchanges.
Serrano allegedly created an account on TradeOgre, a digital currency exchange, and made a deposit of about US$29 million (RM126.2 million) worth of virtual currency.
He did not use a VPN when he created the account, and records from TradeOgre showed that the account was created from an IP address registered to Serrano’s home in Encino, California, which was being rented at US$47,500 (RM207,000) per month.
“Government surveillance captured (Lam) at Los Angeles nightclubs spending hundreds of thousands of dollars per night, and gifting handbags valued at tens of thousands of dollars,” a law enforcement officer told the court, according to court documents.
Management at the nightclubs said Lam tried to pay in cryptocurrency and was spending about US$400,000 (RM1.74 million) to US$500,000 (RM2.18 million) per night.
The prosecution also has a receipt from a Los Angeles nightclub where Lam spent US$569,528.39 (RM2.48 million) in one night.
Lam also apparently bought a “collection of luxury automobiles”, some costing as much as US$3 million (RM13.05 million) which included custom Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Porsches.
Lam admitted to buying 31 luxury cars, 22 of which had yet to be found as of Sep 24.
On September 10, Lam flew on a private jet from Los Angeles to Miami to continue his spending spree, renting multiple homes in Miami, including one on Hibiscus Island and two other luxurious homes near the water. One of those homes had a monthly rent of US$68,000 (RM296,000).
Serrano was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport on September 18 when he arrived home from a holiday in the Maldives with his girlfriend.
Serrano’s girlfriend then told Lam about the arrest which led him to immediately deleting his Telegram account.
Lam was arrested on the same day in Miami.
From two of his houses in Miami, officers seized nine cars and luxury watches, one of which cost US$1.8 million (RM7.83 million).
Lam, who has no legal status in the US, admitted to carrying out additional hacks and making millions from those separate cryptocurrency fraud schemes.
He arrived in October 2023 on the US visa waiver programme, which allows tourists to visit the country for up to 90 days without a visa.
While in the US, Lam had no permanent residence, was not employed and was “paying for his lavish lifestyle with stolen funds”, the court heard during the government’s bid to keep him in remand.
“Moreover, (Lam) has substantial assets that have yet to be located, which provide him with the financial means to flee.”
For each count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, he could be jailed for up to 20 years and fined up to US$250,000 (RM1.08 million), or up to twice his gains from the scams.