First they met as teen gamers, then they ran $263m Bitcoin racket, feds say

He called himself “King Greavys,” other times “Anne Hathaway,” or simply “$$$.”

Since 2023, Malone Lam, 20, was a member of a vast criminal enterprise that used hacking and burglary to steal $263 million in cryptocurrencies from its victims, according to a 42-page US grand jury indictment unsealed on May 15.

He and his crew, prosecutors said, led a life of gaudy luxury.

They spent $500,000 per evening on “nightclub services,” gave out designer handbags as party favours, and moved around in private jets and a fleet of 28 cars worth $100,000 to $3.8 million each.

Burglary and money laundering

The case, which may be the most spectacular yet in a crypto crime wave spreading across three continents, describes how a group of young men morphed from gamers into criminal defendants charged with racketeering, money laundering, and related charges.

There was Marlon Ferro, aka “GothFerrari,” a 19-year-old California resident who allegedly committed burglary and money laundering.

And there was Conor Flansburg, 21, an alleged hacker known as “Green Room.”

A 45-year-old California resident named Kunal Mehta allegedly handled the money laundering operation. He was known as “Papa.”

Eight other defendants were also named in the case.

The authorities said the enterprise grew out of friendships between gamers and was well managed.

Database hackers penetrated websites and servers to obtain information on crypto holdings, or purchased data off of the dark web. Then “organisers” identified the targets.

$230 million gone

Next, the defendants called the victims to convince them their accounts had been compromised by cyberattacks and urged them to cooperate to protect their assets.

Instead, their assets were drained and it wasn’t long before the cryptocurrencies were laundered, according to the indictment.

In one instance last August, Lam contacted a victim in Washington and fraudulently obtained 4,100 Bitcoin worth $230 million, according to the indictment.

Last July, prosecutors said Ferro broke into a residence in New Mexico and stole a hardware virtual currency wallet while Lam monitored the victim’s movements by hacking their iCloud account.

Bulk cash

The operation was throwing off so much cash, the authorities said, that the defendants put stacks of money into Squishmallows stuffed animals and shipped them to one another through the US mail.

It is unclear if Lam has entered a formal plea. According to prosecutors, he was arrested in the US in September on a preceding indictment and is being detained.

The Justice Department said other defendants were arrested this week in California, and two are believed to be living in Dubai. Neither Lam, Ferro, Flansburg, or Mehta, could be reached for comment.

Notorious for its multi-billion-dollar hacks, the crypto industry is now being targeted more than ever by criminals using old fashioned methods.

In January, a criminal ring kidnapped David Balland, a co-founder of the unicorn crypto company Ledger, and his wife in France. They demanded an undisclosed Bitcoin ransom from another Ledger cofounder in exchange for their release.

Kidnapping

When authorities finally collected Balland two days later, he was missing a finger, reported the local press. Ten individuals were arrested for their alleged involvement in the kidnapping.

On Tuesday, a video of a woman being attacked in Paris by three masked men, who attempted to force her into a van, spread across social media. It was later revealed that she was the daughter of the CEO of the crypto company Paymium.

The attackers abandoned the woman after a man in a nearby shop charged the trio with a fire extinguisher.

In March, four teenagers in Texas were arrested and charged in connection with the violent home invasion of Kaitlyn “Amouranth” Siragusa, a high-profile streamer and content creator.

Liam Kelly is DL News’ Berlin-based DeFi correspondent. Have a tip? Get in touch atliam@dlnews.com.

Edward Robinsonis the story editor forDL News. Contact the author ated@dlnews.com.