SINGAPORE: A Singaporean living in the USA was amongst two folks charged on Thursday (Sep 19) with conspiring to steal and launder US$230 million in cryptocurrency.
The pair are accused of fraudulently acquiring over 4,100 Bitcoin, which was value over US$230 million on the time, from a sufferer in Washington DC, the US Division of Justice stated in a press launch on Thursday.
Malone Lam, a 20-year-old Singaporean who lives in Miami and Los Angeles, and Jeandiel Serrano, 21, from Los Angeles had been arrested by the FBI on Wednesday evening.
Lam, who goes by the web monikers “Anne Hathaway” and “$$$”, and Serrano, who makes use of “VesaceGod” and “@SkidStar”, appeared in courtroom on Thursday, learn the press launch.
Lam, Serrano and others had allegedly conspired to hold out cryptocurrency thefts and to launder the stolen cryptocurrency “via exchanges and mixing companies” since not less than August this 12 months.
The conspirators would fraudulently achieve entry to sufferer cryptocurrency accounts after which switch sufferer funds into their possession, in line with the press launch.
They laundered the proceeds, together with by shifting the funds via numerous mixers and exchanges utilizing “peel chains”, pass-through wallets, and digital personal networks (VPNs) to masks their true identities.
A peel chain is a way used to launder giant quantities of illegally obtained cryptocurrency via a collection of small transactions.
The pair then allegedly spent the laundered cryptocurrency proceeds on worldwide journey, nightclubs, luxurious cars, watches, jewelry, designer purses and rental houses in Los Angeles and Miami.
Investigations into the scam are ongoing.
