Singaporean Pleads Guilty in $245 Million Crypto Theft Under RICO Charges

Malone Lam, a 22-year-old Singaporean national, pleaded guilty Sept. 8 in federal court in Washington to participating in a racketeering conspiracy tied to what the Justice Department described as an international social-engineering operation that stole and laundered more than $245 million in cryptocurrency. The plea was entered in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia before Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly.

Prosecutors say Lam was the “ringleader of an international cybercrime conspiracy” that used deception rather than a flaw in cryptocurrency software to carry out one of the highest-value crypto theft cases charged by the department. According to court filings and the Justice Department, Lam and co-conspirators targeted a Washington, D.C., victim on or about Aug. 18, 2024, stealing more than 4,100 Bitcoin after gaining access to the victim’s accounts.

The government says the theft began with phone calls from people posing as a Google technical or security representative and as an employee of the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange. Prosecutors say the callers persuaded the victim to grant access to Google Drive and disclose security or backup codes, which then enabled the theft of the Bitcoin.

That distinction is central to the case. Prosecutors are not alleging that Lam and others broke Bitcoin or exploited a flaw in the blockchain. Instead, they say the group used impersonation and access to cloud-stored recovery material to take control of the victim’s digital assets. The case is also notable because the Justice Department charged the operation under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, a law more commonly associated with organized-crime prosecutions than with standalone fraud or theft cases.

The plea marks a significant step in a prosecution that widened last year. In May 2025, the Justice Department announced a superseding indictment that added 12 more defendants and recast the matter as a broader criminal enterprise operating from no later than October 2023 through at least May 2025. In that filing, prosecutors said the larger enterprise was responsible for more than $263 million in cryptocurrency thefts, a figure that refers to the broader alleged network, not just Lam’s plea.

The government says the group laundered stolen proceeds through a series of methods designed to obscure where the funds came from, including intermediary wallets, cross-platform transfers and crypto-to-cash services. Prosecutors have described the laundering activity as part of a coordinated enterprise, not an isolated theft.

The broader case has already produced other convictions. Co-defendant Evan Tangeman previously pleaded guilty to participating in the RICO conspiracy and was sentenced in April 2026 to 70 months in prison for laundering at least $3.5 million for the enterprise.

A status hearing in Lam’s case is set for Dec. 8, 2026. In announcing the plea, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro said the department would continue to pursue those behind large-scale cyber-enabled thefts. “If you build a cybercrime empire, we will find you, dismantle your operation, and hold you accountable,” Pirro said.