A $245 million Bitcoin heist. $500,000 nights at clubs. More than 30 luxury cars.
Malone Lam, a 22-year-old Singaporean national, has pleaded guilty in the United States to a racketeering conspiracy charge tied to one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts ever prosecuted.
According to the US Department of Justice, Lam and a network of associates stole approximately $245 million in Bitcoin and then went on a staggering spending spree while attempting to launder the proceeds.
From crypto theft to a luxury lifestyle
Prosecutors say the stolen fortune funded an extravagant lifestyle that included:
- More than 30 high-end vehicles, with individual cars valued between $100,000 and $3.8 million.
- Nightclub spending of as much as $500,000 in a single evening.
- Hermès Birkin handbags, some worth tens of thousands of dollars.
- Luxury watches reportedly costing as much as $500,000.
- Designer clothing worth tens of thousands of dollars.
- Luxury rental properties in Los Angeles, the Hamptons and Miami.
- Private jet travel.
- A personal security team.
The DOJ also alleged that Birkin bags purchased with the proceeds were sometimes thrown into nightclub crowds as party giveaways.
The extravagant spending eventually became part of the story prosecutors presented to the courts.
How the alleged crypto operation worked
Court records say the conspiracy began by October 2023 at the latest and continued until at least May 2025.
The group reportedly formed through online gaming communities, bringing together people from several US states and other countries.
Prosecutors identified Lam as the operation’s leader. They say he helped select targets and assigned different tasks to members of the group.
The alleged scheme relied heavily on deception.
According to the DOJ, members persuaded victims to reveal sensitive information that could be used to access their cryptocurrency holdings. Investigators also alleged that conspirators sometimes carried out break-ins at victims’ homes to obtain information needed to access their wallets.
Once the cryptocurrency was stolen, the group allegedly moved the funds through a series of transactions designed to conceal their origins.
A teenager who left school at 14
Lam told US investigators that he had left secondary school in Singapore when he was 14.
He travelled to the United States in October 2023 and remained there after his visa expired in January 2024.
By then, according to prosecutors, the cryptocurrency operation was already underway.
Lam also allegedly operated under several aliases, including “Anne Hathaway,” “$$$” and “King Greavy.”
The lifestyle raised eyebrows
Lam became known in Los Angeles and Miami nightlife circles for his conspicuous spending, according to evidence previously presented in a Florida federal court.
During his first court appearance, US Magistrate Judge Alicia Valle compared the story to Ferris Bueller from the 1986 film—except with the adventure taking a criminal turn.
The judge highlighted the extraordinary speed and scale of the spending, including the purchase of dozens of luxury vehicles after Lam obtained access to the cryptocurrency fortune.
The investigation closes in
The operation began to unravel in September 2024, when FBI agents arrested Lam and another alleged participant.
One of his co-conspirators, Evan Tangeman, later pleaded guilty to laundering proceeds from the scheme and was sentenced to 70 months in prison in April.
The DOJ said Tangeman also attempted to destroy evidence after Lam’s arrest, conduct prosecutors argued demonstrated his awareness of the criminal nature of the operation.
Lam could face 20 years
Lam’s guilty plea to the racketeering conspiracy charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly had not immediately set a sentencing date.
US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said the case demonstrated that authorities would pursue cybercriminal networks even when their operators attempted to hide behind cryptocurrency and international connections.
For Lam, prosecutors say the extraordinary spending spree that followed the theft ultimately helped expose the scale of the operation.
The money bought the cars, the parties and the luxury lifestyle. It also attracted the attention that eventually brought the alleged crypto empire crashing down.
