Malone Lam faces plea hearing in Washington over $245M Bitcoin theft case.
Regulation & Gov ·
Malone Lam, 22, is scheduled for a plea agreement hearing in federal court in Washington on Tuesday in connection with a $245 million Bitcoin theft. Prosecutors allege that Lam organized a crew that used social engineering to defraud a Washington investor, with callers impersonating Google and Gemini staff convincing the victim to install remote access software and hand over security credentials, enabling the theft of over 4,100 BTC.
The case centers on an alleged racketeering operation called the Social Engineering Enterprise involving 18 charged individuals with specialized roles spanning database theft, phone-based social engineering, and money laundering. The indictment describes how the group, which originated from online gaming connections, targeted victims using stolen cryptocurrency databases and, when necessary, conducted physical break-ins to steal hardware wallets. Proceeds flowed through Monero and peel chains before being converted to cash, with Lam spending approximately $4 million at Los Angeles nightclubs in a single month and purchasing over 30 vehicles registered to a shell company.
Ten of the 18 defendants have entered guilty pleas, and three have been sentenced. The indictment indicates that group members continued attempting social engineering attacks as recently as early 2025, communicating from Dubai using coded language, while others relayed messages to Lam during his detention and funded his defense using fraud proceeds. The full outcome of Tuesday's plea hearing remains pending.