U.S. Agents Arrest Duo for $230M Bitcoin Theft in Washington D.C.

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Federal authorities in the United States have arrested two men, Malone Lam (20) and Jeandiel Serrano (21), for allegedly stealing $230 million worth of Bitcoin from a Washington, D.C. resident.

The duo faces charges of conspiracy to steal and launder over 4,100 BTC, which they acquired through sophisticated social engineering tactics. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia confirmed the arrests and indictment on September 19, citing the pair’s alleged efforts to gain unauthorized access to the victim’s accounts.

Crime Details

The victim, believed to be a creditor of crypto lending platform Genesis, was targeted in August 2024. The thieves reportedly used multiple aliases and exploited advanced techniques to transfer and launder the stolen funds. The massive Bitcoin theft enabled Lam and Serrano to fund a luxurious lifestyle that included international trips, high-end vehicles, watches, designer goods, and expensive rental properties in Miami and Los Angeles.

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Blockchain investigator “ZachXBT” played a pivotal role in assisting law enforcement with the case. On September 19, he described the heist as a “highly sophisticated social engineering attack.” According to ZachXBT, the perpetrators first impersonated Google Support using a spoofed number to gain access to the victim’s personal information.

They then posed as Gemini support staff, falsely claiming the victim’s account had been hacked. The fraudsters convinced the victim to reset their two-factor authentication (2FA), which allowed them to redirect Bitcoin from the victim’s Gemini account to a compromised wallet.

The attackers also managed to obtain the victim’s private keys by persuading them to install screen-sharing software. This enabled them to siphon off even more funds. Reports indicate that $243 million in crypto was initially divided among several accounts before being distributed across over 15 different exchanges. The stolen assets were rapidly converted between Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Monero to obscure the trail.

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$9M of Stolen Funds Frozen

As part of the ongoing investigation, authorities traced several Ethereum addresses linked to Serrano and another suspect, known by the alias “Wiz.” These addresses received $41 million from two exchanges in recent weeks.

Thanks to collaboration with crypto forensics experts, the Web3 security firm zeroShadow, and Binance’s Security Team, over $9 million in stolen funds have been frozen, with $500,000 already returned to the victim.

The investigation is still active, with continued support from the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the IRS-Criminal Investigation Washington Field Office.