US charges 12 more suspects linked to $230 million crypto theft

Twelve more suspects were charged in a RICO conspiracy for their alleged involvement in the theft of over $230 million in cryptocurrency and laundering the funds using crypto exchanges and mixing services.

Two other suspects linked to this conspiracy, 20-year-old Malone Lam (aka “Greavys,” “Anne Hathaway,” and “$$$”) and 21-year-old Jeandiel Serrano (aka “Box,” “VersaceGod,” and “@SkidStar”), were arrested and charged in September 2024.

According to court documents, Lam, Serrano, and others involved in the scheme allegedly gained unauthorized access to victims’ cryptocurrency accounts and transferred funds into crypto wallets they controlled. In an August 18th attack, they stole over 4,100 Bitcoin from a Washington, D.C., victim (worth more than $230 million at the time).

Crypto fraud investigator ZachXBT, who assisted the FBI investigators, revealed that the group targeted a creditor of the Genesis crypto exchange, using spoofed phone numbers and impersonating customer support at Google and Gemini.

While posing as a Gemini support representative, they deceived the victim into resetting two-factor authentication (2FA) and sharing their screen via AnyDesk (a remote desktop application) after claiming the account had been compromised, which gave them access to private keys from Bitcoin Core and allowed them to steal the target’s cryptocurrency funds.