US Charges Young Suspects in $240 Million Bitcoin Theft, Lavish Spending Spree

U.S. authorities have charged a group of suspects in their 20s accused of stealing $240 million worth of Bitcoin and then blowing the proceeds on sports cars, luxury homes and other lavish purchases.

The Associated Press reported on September 7 that federal prosecutors charged 18 people, including Malone Lam, with stealing more than 4,100 Bitcoin from a longtime digital-asset investor in Washington, D.C., in August 2024.

Investigators said the group approached the victim while posing as representatives of Google and Gemini, the digital-asset exchange. They then tricked the investor into granting access to his Google Drive and security codes before stealing the Bitcoin.

After the theft, the group laundered the proceeds through multiple digital-asset trading platforms and converted them into cash. They bought dozens of sports cars, flew on private jets and rented luxury homes in Miami and the Hamptons. Lam also spent more than $569,000 in a single night at a Los Angeles nightclub.

One member of the group, however, drew investigators' attention by creating an exchange account to store about $30 million in stolen digital assets without concealing the internet protocol address. The Federal Bureau of Investigation traced the IP address and found a rented home in California used by the group.

So far, 10 of the 18 defendants have pleaded guilty, the AP report said.