Singapore: In just seven years, Malone Lam Yu Xuan went from being a student at a high school in Chu Kang to be called Crypto Whizz-Kid for some in the United States in 2023.
Many of those who saw their spree of expenses were amazed that a 19 -year -old could afford large mansions, a fleet of expensive cars and luxury clothing.
In truth, Lam lived from the millions of cryptography that stole from several investors, he later told researchers in the United States.
This was before August 2024, when it was supposedly involved in the theft of Bitcoin valued at more than US $ 240 million, one of the largest robberies of cryptocurrencies in the history of the United States.
The legal documents obtained by the Straits Times showed that LAM, which turned 20 in 2024, had been living in the United States with an expired tourist visa.
The documents presented in a United States court showed that the teenager pocketed millions and spent part of the money in himself and his friends.
Among other things, he bought and gave a 2024 Mercedes SL and a Ferrari FS 2023 to Jeandiel Serrano.
A year later, Lam and Serrano ended up as coacked in the theft of Bitcoin, where they allegedly stole more than 4,100 bitcoins of a single victim between August 18 and 19, 2024.
Lam faces two accusations in the Columbia district for conspiring to commit electronic fraud and conspiracy to wash monetary instruments.
Each of the charges entails a maximum period of the 20 -year prison.
ST checks showed that LAM had registered in Unity High School in Chu Kang in 2017.
But he left shortly after, then told researchers in the United States that he had abandoned school when he was between 13 and 14 years old.
Lam was active online, especially in the playground.
He was next to the nickname “Greavys” in Minecraft and also used “Anne Hathaway” and “Malone” on several game platforms, including Discord.
Lam moved to the United States in October 2023. He already knew Serrano, an American, by then.
They gathered online while playing Minecraft and gained notoriety within the community for allegedly looting or stealing the accounts of other players to sell money.
The authorities said that LAM had traveled in a visa exemption program, which allows residents of 42 countries, including Singapore, entering the US. Uu. For 90 days for commercial or leisure purposes.
His visa expired in January 2024, but remained illegally. He spent time in Texas and Los Angeles and also traveled to Canada.
While in the United States, the Singapore player developed a “post and enough” lifestyle taste, a term that describes young people who flaunt their expensive cars and clothes, great parties and even larger mansions.
He said he was a cryptographic investor, they showed judicial documents. But in reality, he became rich by hacking and stealing the cryptocurrency.
US prosecutor Jonathan Stratton described Lam as a “sophisticated scammer crypt” when Singapurense first occurred in a district court in southern Florida in September 2024.
When arguing against the bail, Stratton said that LAM presents two dangers.
“One is that it is obviously a sophisticated cryptocurrency scammer. He executed one of the most significant cryptocurrency hacks in the country.
“You can do such piracy from anywhere, and there is no reasonable combination of conditions that services prior to trial can implement that will prevent their ability to further exploit cryptographic investors throughout the country,” he said.
The prosecutor added that LAM has an inclination to obstruct justice.
“The defendant was proper by the bride of his coaccusado and immediately participated in an additional criminal activity eliminating his telegram account and obstructing justice in this investigation,” he said, adding that Lam’s ability to hide electronic evidence is significant.
After his arrest, LAM told researchers in the United States that before the robbery, he had made millions when participating in several cryptographic scams. He said he used stolen money to support his lifestyle.
Lam, Serrano and his accomplices allegedly arrived at the Gordo Award in August 2024, and then divided the stolen funds between them.
Lam accumulated a fleet of 31 luxury vehicles, including US $ 3.8 million Pagani Huayra, a scrambled Lamborghini of US $ 1 million and Ferraris and Porsches Customized.
The US authorities say that 22 of Lam vehicles have not yet been located by the police, including a white Lamborghini that had adorned with its name.
He also rented multiple mansions in Miami, paying US $ 68,000 for monthly rent in a single residence, and also acquired multiple luxury watches, one of which was purchased for US $ 1.8 million.
Prosecutors said that during this period, he became known at the Los Angeles nightclub scene due to the luxurious bottle services he demanded.
He even gave bags valued in tens of thousands of dollars to people he barely knew. The influencers of social networks created videos that detail how LAM had given them bags of the French fashion house Hermes.
On September 11, 2024, the influencer Skylar Harrison published a video about Tiktok detailing how he ran into Lam in a nightclub called Keys.
While I was in the club, someone from Lam’s entourage invited her to the section she was in, with the offer of a Hermes bag.
He added that he witnessed that LAM bought about US $ 100,000 in alcohol within 10 minutes of meeting it. She said Lam said she was the son of a Chinese billionaire.
The investigations revealed that it spent up to US $ 500,000 per night in nightclubs during a few weeks and, on some occasions, tried to pay in cryptocurrencies.
That striking lifestyle and its vanity contributed to its fall. The researchers were looking for Lam and found their name on a banner in a club where he spent hundreds of thousands.
The court documents showed that the authorities were looking at him.
A prosecutor said that government surveillance caught Lam spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on one night.
Lam’s Expenses Execution also abounded on social media platforms, with multiple videos that show it, adorned with designer and jewelry clothes.
The game was held after the researchers identified Serrano. He was arrested on September 18, 2024 at Los Angeles International Airport, after he returned from a vacation in the Maldives with his girlfriend.
After they interviewed her, Serrano’s girlfriend left Lam, who was already in Miami after traveling from Los Angeles in a private jet.
The researchers said the Singapurense was arrested while trying to flee. He has been arrested since his arrest.
Prosecutors said LAM is a flight risk.
It has substantial assets that have not yet been located, which said they provide the financial means to flee from the jurisdiction.
In September 2024, a Florida judge said Lam seemed to have very few ties anywhere, except Singapore.
“He has lived in Texas, La, Canada. Just a little stone. There are no links with southern Florida.
“No other work, except his self -admitted work as a cryptographic investor during the last eight months, and we know what he was doing investing other people’s money, according to the accusation,” said the judge.
On March 7, Lam’s lawyer, Scott Armstrong, presented a notice that indicates the intention of Singapuren to proceed to jury trial.
In response to ST consultations, Armstrong said: “LAM is currently in Virginia pending his trial, which was scheduled for October 2025”.
Lam also intends to present other “legal attacks”, according to Armstrong’s application.
This will include suppression movements that require the United States government to produce a significant discovery in the case against.
The lawyer said that LAM is also asking for the immediate production of affidavits of the search warrant and relevant reports for the searches executed in his case to prepare his defense.
In a previous hearing, state prosecutors said that, based on the amounts involved in the robbery, LAM will probably face between 168 and 210 months in jail.
At least US $ 100 million of the stolen bitcoin is not counted. – The Straits Times/Ann
