Malone Lam, 22, pleaded guilty in a US federal court to a racketeering conspiracy charge and now faces a maximum prison term of 20 years. The plea resolves the US case against a man prosecutors describe as the organiser of one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts on record, involving $245m in bitcoin.
Court documents say the scheme began no later than October 2023 and ran through at least May 2025. Lam travelled to the US in October 2023 and remained after his visa expired in January 2024. Prosecutors say he ran an international group of associates recruited through online gaming platforms, with co-conspirators located in California, Connecticut, New York, Florida and abroad.
The Department of Justice says Lam, who used the aliases Anne Hathaway, $$$ and King Greavy, identified victims, assigned roles inside the group and supervised operations that obtained confidential information. The indictment and related filings describe tactics that included deception and occasional home break-ins to secure details needed to empty victims' crypto wallets.
US authorities say the stolen funds underwrote a conspicuous lifestyle. Prosecutors allege the group spent up to $500,000 per evening at nightclubs, purchased a fleet of exotic cars priced between $100,000 and $3.8m, and bought high-end watches worth as much as $500,000. The DOJ also says they acquired Hermes Birkin handbags, luxury clothing, rental homes in Los Angeles, the Hamptons and Miami, private jet rentals and private security.
Lam became known in Los Angeles and Miami nightlife circles, according to court filings, and agents arrested him and a co-conspirator in September 2024. One member of the network, Evan Tangeman, was sentenced in April this year to 70 months in prison after being convicted of laundering proceeds and attempting to destroy evidence.
US Attorney Jeanine Pirro reacted to the guilty plea, saying, "If you build a cybercrime empire, we will find you, dismantle your operation, and hold you accountable." At an earlier hearing US magistrate Alicia Valle commented, "As I was listening to the evidence, I could only think of Ferris Bueller gone bad." No sentencing date has yet been set for Lam, leaving the length of his punishment and any forfeiture or restitution to be determined by the court.
