The arrests of a 20-year-old man and his accomplice are linked to an FBI search of a Miami home, according to federal authorities. They are accused of conspiring to steal and launder nearly $230 million in bitcoin.
The U.S. Department of Justice reports that on Wednesday night, two individuals—Malone Lam, 20, of Miami and Los Angeles, California, and Jeandiel Serrano, 21, of Los Angeles—were taken into custody.
According to the FBI indictment, the two of them and other individuals planned bitcoin thefts and used exchanges and mixing services to launder the money.
A user of the social networking site X, which was once known as Twitter, discovered the purported moment when Lam reportedly received over $230 million in Bitcoin that had been taken from a victim in Washington, D.C.
According to the indictment, the suspects “paid for rental properties in Los Angeles and Miami, international travel, service at nightclubs, multiple luxury cars, watches, jewelry, and designer handbags with the illicitly obtained cryptocurrency.”
The pair is accused of displaying off their expensive cars and fashionable purses during parties, including one that was captured on camera.
Serrano, also known as “VersaceGod” and “@SkidStar,” and Lam, a Singaporean national going by the online names “Anne Hathaway” and “$$$,” are accused of breaking into victim accounts and stealing bitcoin, including 4,100 Bitcoin that the victim in Washington, D.C. in August had.
All of that, however, came to an abrupt end on Wednesday night when officers of the FBI broke into a home that was situated just south of Miami Shores, close to Northeast 83rd Street and 12th Avenue, close to North Bayshore Drive.
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According to the neighbors, the house is rented out. FBI representatives verified on Thursday night that Lam and Serrano’s apprehensions are related to this operation.
When federal agents searched the estate during the day and conducted nighttime investigations, smoke billowed out of it.
According to City of Miami Police, they helped FBI agents on Wednesday during the raid. On Thursday, Lam and Serrano were scheduled to appear in U.S. District Courts located in Florida and California.
