A 22-year-old man from Singapore, accused of helping pull off a Bitcoin heist worth more than $240 million from a single victim, is set to plead guilty this week in what prosecutors describe as one of the biggest cryptocurrency theft cases ever brought in the United States.
Malone Lam, a Singaporean eighth-grade dropout whom authorities have portrayed as a suspected leader in the far-reaching crypto fraud operation, is due to appear Tuesday for a plea agreement hearing in federal court in Washington, D.C.
Federal prosecutors say Lam and several alleged accomplices belonged to a loose network of young men, mostly in their late teens and early 20s, who used an elaborate “social engineering” scheme in August 2024 to manipulate a wealthy longtime cryptocurrency investor into surrendering access to his digital assets.
A Justice Department court filing in the case against Hamza Doost and Kunal Mehta, featuring a photo of Malone Lam, is shown Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)
Investigators allege members of the group reached out to the victim while impersonating representatives from Google and the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange, falsely claiming that his accounts were under threat.
The victim was allegedly persuaded to share access to his Google Drive and hand over security codes, enabling Lam and others to drain more than 4,100 Bitcoin — valued at over $240 million at the time.
Prosecutors say the stolen cryptocurrency was then routed through several exchange platforms, with alleged money-laundering specialists brought in to help turn portions of the digital fortune into cash.
Authorities contend that Lam and his associates followed the theft with an extraordinary luxury spending binge, blowing proceeds on high-end cars, private jet travel, mansions and lavish nights out.
This Justice Department’s grand jury superseding indictment against Malone Lam and his co-defendants is photographed Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)
Lam and his friends allegedly spent $4 million at Los Angeles nightclubs in roughly a month, including more than $569,000 that Lam allegedly spent during a single night out. He also allegedly used stolen cryptocurrency to purchase a $2 million watch and more than 30 vehicles, including custom Porsches, Lamborghinis and Ferraris.
The group also rented multimillion-dollar homes, flew on private jets and hired private security.
The alleged spending was so lavish that the judge overseeing Lam’s initial court appearance in Miami invoked a famous Hollywood troublemaker after hearing a prosecutor describe it.
“I could only think of Ferris Bueller gone bad,” U.S. Magistrate Judge Alicia Valle said, referring to the school-skipping protagonist of the 1986 movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”
The lavish lifestyle quickly attracted attention as investigators closed in.
One alleged co-conspirator, Jeandiel Serrano, failed to conceal his IP address while creating an account on a cryptocurrency exchange that held nearly $30 million in stolen funds, prosecutors said. Investigators traced the address to an Encino, California, home Serrano was renting for $47,500 per month.
This Justice Department court filing in the case against Hamza Doost and Kunal Mehta, which includes a photo of Malone Lam, is photographed Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)
Serrano and Lam were arrested separately on Sept. 18, 2024. FBI agents took Serrano into custody at Los Angeles International Airport, where authorities said he was wearing a watch worth roughly $500,000.
Lam was arrested the same day at a Miami mansion.
Eighteen defendants have been charged in connection with the case, with ten already pleading guilty.
At Lam’s initial court appearance, a prosecutor estimated that federal sentencing guidelines could call for a prison term of at least 14 years if he is convicted.
