Malone Lam was charged in a US district court in southern Florida on Sept 19. An Instagram reel (right) shows him purportedly having an extravagant party at a nightclub. SINGAPORE - A Singaporean national who lives in the United States was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents over a conspiracy to steal and launder more than US$230 million (S$297 million) in cryptocurrency.
Malone Lam, 20, was charged in a US district court in southern Florida on Sept 19, according to a press release from the US Department of Justice (DOJ). Also facing charges is Lam’s alleged co-conspirator Jeandiel Serrano. The 21-year-old appeared in a district court in California on the same day.
The two men each face one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. Lam, who splits his time between Miami and Los Angeles, uses the online monikers “Anne Hathaway” and “$$$”, while Serrano uses the names “VersaceGod” and “@SkidStar”, said the release. According to the indictment, Lam, Serrano and their conspirators contacted a victim in Washington D.
C. on Aug 18 and fraudulently obtained over 4,100 bitcoin, which was worth over US$230 million at the time. They had planned to launder the stolen crypto currency through exchanges and mixing services while using virtual private networks (VPNs) to mask their true identities, said the DOJ.
“Lam and Serrano then allegedly spent the laundered cryptocurrency proceeds on.