US DOJ Brings Charges In $230 Million Crypto-Laundering Case

Last month, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia announced arrests and charges against Malone Lam, 20, of Miami, FL and Los Angeles, CA, and Jeandiel Serrano, 21, of Los Angeles, CA, for conspiracy to steal and launder over $230 million in cryptocurrency from a victim in Washington, D.C. The case is one of the largest crypto-theft cases in recent years.

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

According to 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 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).

The government team not only was able to unwind the complicated cryptocurrency laundering, they were also able to obtain screenshots of chats between the two subjects showing how they intended to manipulate the victim to obtain his private keys.

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The subjects eventually convinced the victim to download a malicious program, which enabled the subjects to steal the funds and eventually start their spending spree.

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

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