22-year-old Malone Lam pleads guilty in $245 million crypto fraud case

BlockBeats News, September 9 - Malone Lam, a 22-year-old Singaporean national nicknamed "Greavys," pleaded guilty on September 8 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to one count of federal racketeering conspiracy, involving $245 million. Prosecutors accused him of orchestrating a transnational "social engineering" network that stole victims' crypto assets through tactics including impersonating customer service agents in scams, database intrusions, and hardware wallet theft.

The U.S. Department of Justice stated that the criminal ring had been operating since at least October 2023, obtaining victims' information through social engineering schemes and occasional home invasions to divert their cryptocurrency. The stolen funds were used to purchase luxury cars, high-end watches, private jet charters, and nightclub spending, with a single night's club tab reaching as high as $500,000.

Co-conspirator Evan Tangeman was already sentenced to 70 months in prison in April this year on money laundering charges. Lam faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, with sentencing scheduled for December 8.