The 22-year-old faces up to 20 years in prison.
WASHINGTON: Singaporean Malone Lam pleaded guilty in a US court on Tuesday (Sep 8) to a racketeering conspiracy charge over his role in a cryptocurrency theft ring that stole more than US$260 million from multiple victims.
The 22-year-old admitted orchestrating and leading the crime ring, which targeted people with large cryptocurrency holdings through “social engineering” attacks.
The case is believed to be the first bitcoin-related case the Department of Justice has built under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. It includes conspiracy charges involving wire fraud and money laundering.
Lam faces a maximum prison term of 20 years.
Much of Tuesday’s nearly two-and-a-half-hour hearing in Washington, DC, focused on details of the crimes.
Prosecutor Christopher Howland said Lam “played multiple roles” in the crime ring.
Wearing a light olive prison jumpsuit and white T-shirt, Lam spoke several times during the hearing, largely to confirm that he understood and agreed with the prosecution’s account.
He detailed how he was seeing a therapist regularly and taking medication for depression, anxiety and to help with his sleeping.
When the judge asked how Lam pleaded, he let out a long sigh before replying: “I plead guilty, Your Honour.”
Eighteen defendants have been charged in the case, with Lam the 11th to plead guilty.
HOW THE SCHEME WORKED
Lam organised “social engineering” attacks targeting people with large cryptocurrency holdings.
He and his co-conspirators impersonated employees of trusted companies, including Google, to persuade victims to disclose personal information such as passwords, seed phrases and authentication codes.
This allowed the group to gain access to victims’ cryptocurrency wallets.
One of the group’s largest thefts came in August 2024, when Lam and his co-conspirators obtained more than 4,100 bitcoin from a victim in Washington, DC. The cryptocurrency was valued at about US$230 million at the time.
Lam was arrested in September 2024, weeks after the theft.
He and his co-conspirators tried to conceal their digital footprint by laundering the stolen cryptocurrency and converting it into payment cards or cash, but his lavish lifestyle attracted the attention of authorities.
