Two individuals have been apprehended for their involvement in a conspiracy to steal and launder over $230 million in cryptocurrency following an FBI raid at a mansion in Miami, Florida.
Malone Lam, 20, and Jeandiel Serrano, 21, were reportedly engaged in efforts to steal and launder funds from a victim based in Washington, D.C., as indicated by the US Attorney’s office.
Lam, a Singaporean citizen who operated online under the pseudonyms “Anne Hathaway” and “$$$” , and Serrano, known as “VersaceGod” and “@SkidStar” , were arrested on September 18 and made their court appearances in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida and the Central District of California, respectively, on September 19.
According to the unsealed indictment, Lam and Serrano, along with others, collaborated to execute cryptocurrency thefts and launder the pilfered cryptocurrency through various exchanges and mixing services since at least August 2024.
The pair laundered the illicit proceeds by moving the funds through multiple mixers and exchanges, utilizing “peel chains,” pass-through wallets, and virtual private networks (VPNs) to conceal their original identities.
A peel chain refers to a strategy for laundering substantial amounts of illegally acquired cryptocurrency via a series of smaller transactions.
In a screen share video shared on X by ZachXBT, a 2D investigator pivotal to the arrests, Serrano and a companion, Aakaash, were seen laundering the funds using eXch and Thorswap.
During the livestream, viewers could hear an xQc video playing in the background while the men concentrated on the laundering process.
6/ Wiz’s friend Light/Dark (Aakaash) helped launder the funds for him using eXch and Thorswap. Similar to Wiz, he also inadvertently revealed his name during screen share. Wiz TC Destination address confirmed in video 0xa212d7441fed6db9ab666ba34e8c440c565f4af8 pic.twitter.com/ITjrp1ehtT
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) September 19, 2024
In the course of these screen shares, two conspirators inadvertently disclosed their names, which assisted law enforcement in identifying additional individuals implicated in the criminal activities.
Notably, on August 18, 2024, Lam, Serrano, and their accomplices contacted a victim in D.C. and, through deceptive communications, fraudulently acquired over 4,100 Bitcoin, which was valued at over $230 million at that time.
Following the alleged theft, Lam and Serrano purportedly used the laundered cryptocurrency earnings on international trips, nightlife, luxury vehicles, watches, jewelry, designer handbags, and rental properties in Los Angeles and Miami.
On September 18, the FBI executed “court-ordered law enforcement activity” at Lam’s Miami mansion.
“It sounded like flashbang grenades. We saw smoke coming out by the garage,” witness Ralph recounted to 7News. “When I looked up, I saw the SWAT coming up on the Intracoastal. I could hear people screaming or hollering, at least one or two voices yelling.”
Local residents noted that activity around the mansion often appeared suspicious, with some claiming to have spotted high-end luxury vehicles displaying temporary paper tags.
The investigation remains active, and the fates of Lam, Serrano, and others involved in this fraudulent scheme are still uncertain.
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