A twenty-two-year-old male entered a guilty plea on Tuesday regarding his position at the helm of a global social engineering enterprise that misappropriated and washed upwards of $245 million in digital assets.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia announced that Malone Lam, a 22-year-old native of Singapore residing in Miami, confessed to a single count of federal racketeering conspiracy.
“If you build a cybercrime empire, we will find you, dismantle your operation, and hold you accountable,” declared U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro within the statement. “This defendant led an international network that preyed on victims through deception, invaded their privacy, and stole hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency.”
Government attorneys initially indicted Lam alongside his alleged accomplice Jeandiel Serrano back in 2024, while additional participants also faced prosecution linked to the plot, such as 22-year-old Evan Tangeman, who received a prison sentence exceeding five years this past April. According to federal authorities, Lam—operating under the monikers “Anne Hathaway,” “$$$”, and “King Greavy”—directed the syndicate, identified targets, and assigned responsibilities among the co-conspirators.
Investigators noted that Lam and his associates squandered the illicitly obtained capital on nightlife outings approaching $500,000 per night, high-end timepieces and purses, leased properties situated in Los Angeles, Miami, and the Hamptons, as well as multiple luxury automobiles valued anywhere between $100,000 and $3.8 million.
Lam confronts a maximum sentence of 20 years behind bars, with a status conference currently set for December 8.
Originally published at https://www.theblock.co/news/regulation/2026-09-08-a-22-year-old-crypto-ringleader-pleads-guilty-to-245-million-racketeering-scheme-413911.