22-year-old school dropout steals $245 million in Bitcoin by posing as Google and Gemini executives; plea

A 22-year-old Singaporean man has pleaded guilty to his role in an international cryptocurrency racketeering operation that prosecutors say stole and laundered more than $245 million in digital assets. Malone Lam, an eighth-grade dropout who later lived in Miami, admitted to participating in a RICO conspiracy after investigators linked him to a network that used social engineering to target cryptocurrency holders. In the biggest theft described in the case, Lam and his associates obtained more than 4,100 Bitcoin from a Washington, DC, victim in August 2024 after conspirators posed as representatives of Google and the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange. The stolen fortune was then converted into an extravagant lifestyle involving exotic cars, luxury watches, mansions, private jets and lavish nightclub spending, including one $569,000 night out in Los Angeles.

22-year-old school dropout pleads guilty after $245 million crypto theft

Lam pleaded guilty on September 8, 2026, in US District Court in Washington, DC, to one count of participating in a RICO conspiracy. The US Department of Justice describes him as the ringleader of an international cybercrime enterprise that used social engineering to steal and launder cryptocurrency valued at more than $245 million.