Leader of $245M Crypto Heist Admits Guilt

The individual behind one of the largest bitcoin thefts in history entered a guilty plea this week.

Malone Lam, a 22-year-old Singaporean living in Miami, confessed on Tuesday to being the mastermind of the international criminal organization that stole 4,100 bitcoins — valued at more than $230 million at the time — to finance an opulent lifestyle.

The U.S. Department of Justice stated that from October 2023 until at least May 2025, Lam and others compromised databases to pilfer crypto users' details and tricked them into handing over login credentials and private keys. The heist netted Bitcoin and other digital currencies totaling $245 million.

On one instance, a co-defendant entered a New Mexico home and took a hardware wallet while Lam tracked the victim's activities by breaking into their iCloud account.

“This defendant led an international network that preyed on victims through deception, invaded their privacy, and stole hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency,” U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro said in a statement.

“If you build a cybercrime empire, we will find you, dismantle your operation, and hold you accountable,” Attorney Pirro added.

The DOJ stated: “The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act conspiracy used social engineering and occasional home break-ins to obtain information that allowed the conspirators to drain their victims’ cryptocurrency wallets.”

The crimes began after a group of online gamers became friends and later teamed up to carry out the cyber offenses, according to the indictment.

Lam and his co-defendants laundered the pilfered bitcoin and used the proceeds for bottle service parties, private jet rentals, security guards, luxury handbags and watches, as well as real estate in Los Angeles, the Hamptons, and Miami.

The defendants would spend up to $500,000 per night on parties and hand out designer handbags worth tens of thousands of dollars, Tuesday's announcement said.

Lam was arrested in 2024 at his rented residence in Miami.