Two people, a Singaporean living in the United States and an American citizen, have been charged with conspiracy to steal and defraud more than $230 million.
The two, identified as 20-year-old Malone Lam, a Singaporean who splits his time between Miami and Los Angeles, and 21-year-old Jeandiel Serrano of Los Angeles, were arrested Wednesday night by the FBI.
Crypto Laundering Scheme Details
According to a press release from the US Department of Justice, Lam and Serrano fraudulently obtained more than 4,100 Bitcoins, valued at approximately $230 million at the time of the theft, from a victim based in Washington DC.
Lam, known online by the nicknames “Anne Hathaway” and “$$$”, and Serrano, who uses the handles “VersaceGod” and “@SkidStar”, made their first court appearance on Thursday.
They are accused of leading crypto theft and illegal operations involving fraudulent access to victims’ crypto accounts, allowing them to transfer funds from their control. The Ministry of Justice noted that this program has been operating since August of this year.
The plan devised by Lam and Serrano also included advanced pickup techniques to hide the origin of the stolen goods. According to these allegations, they use cryptocurrency exchanges and mixing services to process and hide the movement of stolen Bitcoin.
A key technique used in the project was “unchaining,” a technique where large amounts of cryptocurrencies are broken down into smaller transactions, making it difficult to trace the funds.
Additionally, virtual private networks (VPNs) and transit wallets have added anonymity to their operations, allowing them to avoid detection while stealing stolen funds.
How Was The Scam Removed?
Blockchain investigator ZachXBT provided insight into how the scam was carried out. In a post on social media X, ZachXBT explained that the suspects used “sophisticated social engineering” tactics to scam their victims.
2/ Event Summary: On August 19, 2024, threatening actors targeted one Genesis creditor by saying:
1) Calling Google support with a fake number to compromise one’s accounts
2) Hitting after the Gemini claim account was hacked
3) The victim has been created by society to be… pic.twitter.com/gemvrdRLNm— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) September 19, 2024
The $230 million fraud case involved the referral of a debtor to the defunct Genesis trading company. The group allegedly used a fake phone number pretending to be Google support to convince the victim to reset their two-factor authentication, ultimately transferring their cryptocurrency to the conspirators’ control.
According to the US DOJ, the stolen cryptocurrency was used to finance a lavish lifestyle, with the proceeds being spent on luxury goods and experiences.
Law enforcement revealed that Lam and Serrano used the stolen cryptocurrency on high-end trips, visiting exclusive nightclubs, luxury cars, expensive jewelry, designer handbags, and vacation rentals in Miami and Los Angeles.
Their extravagant spending habits, financed by stolen goods, eventually attracted the attention of the authorities.
The featured image was created with DALL-E, a Chart from TradinhgView