Malone Lam, a 22-year-old Singaporean, is set to appear in a Washington, D.C. federal court for a plea agreement hearing. He is accused of leading a criminal group that stole over 4,100 Bitcoin, valued at more than $230 million at the time of the theft on August 18, 2024.
The group allegedly operated from October 2023 to March 2025, committing crimes including home burglaries and fraud totaling over $263 million. Prosecutors charged Lam and 17 co-defendants under the RICO Act, marking the first time this law has been applied to a Bitcoin-related enterprise.
The FBI arrested Lam on September 18, 2024. Nine co-defendants have already pleaded guilty, with sentences ranging from 70 to 78 months. Law enforcement has recovered or frozen approximately $70 million, while $193 million remains missing.
The attackers used social engineering to impersonate representatives from Google and Gemini to gain remote access to the victim's accounts. Each count against Lam carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison.
