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A Miami man is facing charges after authorities said he teamed up with a California man in a scam to steal and launder over $230 million in cryptocurrency.
Malone Lam, 20, and 21-year-old Jeandiel Serrano, of Los Angeles, were arrested by the FBI Wednesday night, The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said in a news release Thursday.
It appears the arrest is connected with an FBI raid of a waterfront home in the area of Northeast 83rd Street and N. Bayshore Drive.
Lam, who lives in Miami but is a citizen of Singapore and who goes by the online monikers “Anne Hathaway” and “$$$,” and Serrano, who uses “VersaceGod” and “@SkidStar,” had worked with others since at least August to carry out cryptocurrency thefts and to launder the stolen crypto currency through exchanges and mixing services, authorities said.
After they fraudulently gained access to victims’ cryptocurrency accounts, they transferred the funds into their possession and laundered the proceeds, authorities said.
The funds were moved through various mixers and exchanges using “peel chains,” pass-through wallets, and virtual private networks (VPNs) to mask their true identities, the news release said.
In one instance, Lam, Serrano, and their conspirators contacted a victim in D.C. and, through the communications with that victim, fraudulently obtained over 4,100 Bitcoin, which was worth over $230 million at the time, authorities said.
Lam and Serrano spent the laundered cryptocurrency proceeds on international travel, partying in nightclubs, luxury automobiles, watches, jewelry, designer handbags, and rental homes in Los Angeles and Miami, authorities said.
Prosecutors said the investigation into the scam is ongoing.