Two suspects, Malone Lam and Jeandiel Serrano, were arrested in Miami this week for their involvement in a conspiracy to steal and launder over $230 million in cryptocurrency. The duo, both in their twenties, allegedly carried out the theft on August 18, when they stole more than 4,100 Bitcoin from a victim in Washington, D.C. After gaining unauthorized access to the victim’s cryptocurrency accounts, they transferred the funds to wallets under their control before laundering the stolen assets using crypto mixers, exchanges, and VPNs to hide their identities.
Lam, Serrano, and others are accused of employing “peel chains” and pass-through wallets to further disguise the origin of the stolen cryptocurrency. The funds were rapidly laundered across multiple exchanges, swapping between Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, and Monero, a privacy-focused coin. Despite their efforts to conceal their activities, their lavish spending on luxury items, including high-end watches, cars, and international travel, eventually exposed their illegal activities.
Crypto fraud investigator ZachXBT assisted official investigators in uncovering the scam. He identified a third conspirator, known as “Wiz,” who was involved in the attack. The group used deceptive tactics, such as spoofing phone numbers and impersonating customer support from Google and Gemini, to gain access to the victim’s accounts and bypass security measures, including two-factor authentication.
The FBI tracked Lam and Serrano by monitoring their extravagant lifestyle and social media activity, which revealed their locations in Miami and Los Angeles. This led to their arrest after investigators traced the stolen funds and identified their role in laundering the cryptocurrency through various exchanges.
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