A major Bitcoin theft case prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice has recently entered a new phase of plea bargaining. Marlon Lam, who is accused of being the mastermind, will appear in court for a hearing regarding the plea agreement. Prior to this, 10 defendants had already admitted their guilt.
The case involves more than 4,100 bitcoins.
The prosecution stated that the case occurred in August 2024, targeting an investor from Washington. The criminal gang used social engineering techniques to obtain access to the victim's account and security codes, thereby controlling over 4,100 bitcoins, which were valued at more than $240 million at that time.
The prosecution also stated that the suspect once pretended to be a staff member of Google and an encrypted trading platform Gemini, inducing victims to hand over access rights to Google Drive. Subsequently, the illicit funds were transferred to multiple trading platforms and attempts were made to exchange them for fiat currency.
The illicit funds were used for luxury consumption.
The investigation revealed that before their arrest, the gang had spent millions of dollars on luxury cars, private jets, mansions, expensive watches, and nightlife expenses. Ram himself was accused of spending over $569,000 in a single night at a nightclub in Los Angeles, and also purchased a watch worth $2 million and more than 30 cars.
The prosecution stated that some of the defendants also used the illicit funds to pay for legal fees. Additionally, some defendants cooperated with the investigation after pleading guilty in the case, and so far, 18 individuals have been prosecuted.
The investigation began with a single mistake.
Law enforcement officials stated that one of the reasons the case was solved was that one of the defendants failed to conceal the IP address when opening an account on the exchange, which allowed investigators to locate his rental residence. Subsequently, the arrest operations based on FBI were gradually carried out.
The case also revealed violent threats against the victims' families. The prosecution stated that some of the suspects' parents had been kidnapped and beaten in an attempt to force them to hand over the relevant encrypted assets.
