22-year-old school dropout pleads guilty in America's largest Bitcoin robbery, posed as Google and Gemini

​

A cryptocurrency investor in Washington, DC, lost more than $ 240 million in

in 2024. The incident took place after a group of young scammers allegedly posed as

and Gemini executives. Malone Lam, a 22-year-old Singaporean eighth-grade dropout accused of organising the scheme, has pleaded guilty to his role in the theft.

​

An AP report claims that after obtaining more than 4,100 Bitcoin, Lam and his associates allegedly spent the proceeds on fleets of sports cars, private jets, rented mansions, luxury watches and nightclub outings, with Lam spending more than $569,000 at a Los Angeles nightclub in a single evening.

​

22-year-old school dropout pleads guilty in $240 million Bitcoin theft

​

Lam, an eighth-grade dropout from Singapore, pleaded guilty to a racketeering conspiracy charge in federal court in Washington, DC. His guilty plea makes him the 11th of 18 defendants charged in the wider investigation to plead guilty, according to prosecutors. The case centers on a network of young men who allegedly used social engineering to manipulate victims into handing over information or access to steal cryptocurrency.

​

The theft at the center of the case took place on August 18, 2024. Prosecutors say Lam, Veer Chetal and Jeandiel Serrano targeted a wealthy, longtime cryptocurrency investor in Washington, DC.