Malone Lam faces plea in $245M Bitcoin theft, RICO first

Malone Lam faces a plea hearing for allegedly stealing over 4,100 Bitcoin, worth up to $245 million, through social engineering. Eighteen are charged; Lam is expected to be the eleventh to plead guilty.

Malone Lam, a 22-year-old Singaporean, is set to appear in federal court in Washington, D.C., for a plea agreement hearing related to the alleged theft of over 4,100 Bitcoin, valued between $230 million and $245 million at the time. Prosecutors claim Lam led a group that used social engineering tactics, impersonating representatives from Google and the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange, to trick a Washington-based investor into granting remote access and sharing security codes. The group, known as the Social Engineering Enterprise, reportedly operated from October 2023 to March 2025, targeting victims using stolen crypto databases and, in some cases, committing home burglaries to steal hardware wallets. Eighteen individuals have been charged, with ten already pleading guilty; Lam is expected to be the eleventh. The group allegedly spent millions on luxury items before arrests began in September 2024. This case marks the first use of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) in a Bitcoin-related crime in the U.S.