Singaporean living in US charged in US$230 million cryptocurrency scam

SINGAPORE: A Singaporean living in the United States was among two people charged with conspiring to steal and launder US$230 million in cryptocurrency on Thursday (Sep 19).

The pair are accused of fraudulently obtaining over 4,100 Bitcoin, which was worth over US$230 million at the time, from a victim in Washington DC, the US Department of Justice said in a press release on Thursday.

Malone Lam, a 20-year-old Singaporean who lives in Miami and Los Angeles, and Jeandiel Serrano, 21, from Los Angeles were arrested by the FBI on Wednesday night.

Lam, who goes by the online monikers “Anne Hathaway” and “$$$”, and Serrano, who uses “VesaceGod” and “@SkidStar”, appeared in court on Thursday, read the press release.

Lam, Serrano and others had allegedly conspired to carry out cryptocurrency thefts and to launder the stolen cryptocurrency “through exchanges and mixing services” since at least August this year.

The conspirators would fraudulently gain access to victim cryptocurrency accounts and then transfer victim funds into their possession, according to the press release.

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.

A peel chain is a technique used to launder large amounts of illegally obtained cryptocurrency through a series of small transactions.

The pair then allegedly spent the laundered cryptocurrency proceeds on international travel, nightclubs, luxury automobiles, watches, jewellery, designer handbags and rental homes in Los Angeles and Miami.

Investigations into the scam are ongoing.