{
  "id": 6310976,
  "title": "Singapore man Malone Lam pleads guilty after massive US bitcoin heist and spending spree",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/08/singapore-man-malone-lam-pleads-guilty-after-massive-us-bitcoin-heist",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-09-08T18:31:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "South China Morning Post",
    "slug": "south-china-morning-post",
    "url": "https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3366830/singapore-man-malone-lam-pleads-guilty-after-massive-us-bitcoin-heist-and-spending-spree"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Malone Lam, a 22-year-old man from Singapore, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to his role in a massive bitcoin heist that prosecutors claim was one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts in US history. The alleged theft involved nearly US$245 million in bitcoin, which was laundered and used for a lavish spending spree by Lam and his co-conspirators. The 18 defendants, including Lam, are accused of carrying out a series of cryptocurrency scams starting in 2023. Lam, who did not finish eighth grade, is one of the 11 defendants to have pleaded guilty so far, but his conviction is considered a significant victory for the Justice Department's investigation. Prosecutors allege that Lam and his alleged co-conspirators used \"social engineering\" techniques to deceive the victim out of the stolen bitcoin. The scheme involved posing as representatives of Google and the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange to gain access to the victim's Google Drive and security codes. After the heist, Lam and his associates used the laundered funds to indulge in a spending spree that lasted a month. This included purchasing a fleet of sports cars, renting mansions in Miami, and spending over US$569,000 in a single evening at a Los Angeles nightclub. The spending spree came to an end when Lam was arrested in Miami by FBI agents who had been tipped off by an off-duty law enforcement officer about his impending arrest. In his recorded conversation with associates from jail, Lam expressed disbelief at the magnitude of his actions and the subsequent arrest, reflecting on what it would have been like if he had been apprehended earlier.",
  "summary": "A 22-year-old man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to teaming up with friends to steal nearly a quarter-billion dollars in bitcoin from a Washington resident – one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts in US history – and then embarking on a wild spending spree with the laundered proceeds. Malone Lam, an eighth-grade dropout who came to the US from Singapore, faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years…",
  "key_points": [
    "Malone Lam, 22, pleads guilty to role in $245M bitcoin heist",
    "Defendants accused of cryptocurrency scams since 2023",
    "Lam used laundered funds for luxury spending spree"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}