Malone Lam Bitcoin Heist: $240M Case, 14-Year Plea

Malone Lam is set to stand before a federal judge in Washington, D.C. on September 9, 2026, and change his plea to guilty in what prosecutors call the largest known single-victim Bitcoin theft in U.S. history. The case traces back to an August 2024 phone call in which Lam and his co-conspirators, posing as Google and Gemini support staff, talked a D.C. resident out of more than 4,100 Bitcoin, worth over $230 million at the time and closer to $240 million in recent reporting. Two years later, the theft has grown into an 18-defendant racketeering prosecution, the first Bitcoin case the Department of Justice has built under formal RICO conspiracy charges.

The plea deal carries sentencing guidelines that recommend at least 14 years in prison for Lam, according to court filings reviewed by Fox News. If he enters the plea as scheduled, Lam becomes the 11th defendant in the sprawling case to admit guilt, following ten co-conspirators who have already pleaded guilty to charges tied to the theft and the laundering operation that followed it. The case has become a reference point for how organized, human-layer social engineering now rivals technical exploits as the biggest threat to large Bitcoin holders.