Indictment charges two in $230 million cryptocurrency scam

Date: Sept. 19, 2024

Contact:[email protected]

WASHINGTON - An indictment was unsealed today charging Malone Lam, of Miami, FL and Los Angeles, CA, and Jeandiel Serrano, of Los Angeles, California, with conspiracy to steal and launder over $230 million in cryptocurrency from a victim in Washington, D.C. Lam, a citizen of Singapore who goes by the online monikers "Anne Hathaway" and "$$$", and Serrano, who uses "VersaceGod" and "@SkidStar", were arrested last night and are appearing in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida and the Central District of California, respectively, today.

The arrests and indictment were announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves; Executive Special Agent in Charge Kareem A. Carter of IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Washington, D.C., Field Office; and FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge David Geist of the Washington Field Office's Criminal and Cyber Division.

According in the indictment, since at least August 2024, Lam, Serrano, and others conspired to carry out cryptocurrency thefts and to launder the stolen crypto currency through exchanges and mixing services. The conspirators would fraudulently gain access to victim cryptocurrency accounts and then transfer victim funds into their possession. They laundered the proceeds, including by moving the funds through various mixers and exchanges using "peel chains," pass-through wallets, and virtual private networks (VPNs) to mask their true identities. Lam and Serrano then allegedly spent the laundered cryptocurrency proceeds on international travel, nightclubs, luxury automobiles, watches, jewelry, designer handbags, and rental homes in Los Angeles and Miami. In one instance, on August 18, 2024, Lam, Serrano, and their conspirators contacted a victim in D.C. and, through the communications with that victim, fraudulently obtained over 4,100 Bitcoin (worth over $230 million at the time).

This ongoing investigation is being handled by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, the IRS-CI Washington Field Office and the FBI's Washington Field Office. Significant investigative and operational support was provided by the FBI's Los Angeles and Miami Field Offices.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

IRS-CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a more than a 90 percent federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 12 attaché posts abroad.