On September 20, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that an indictment was unsealed on September 19, charging 20-year-old Malone Lam of Miami, Florida, and Los Angeles, California, and 21-year-old Jeandiel Serrano of Los Angeles with conspiracy to commit cryptocurrency theft and money laundering exceeding $2.3 billion. Lam, a Singaporean citizen, used the online aliases "Anne Hathaway" and "$$$," while Serrano used the names "VersaceGod" and "@SkidStar." They were arrested and appeared in federal court on September 19 in the Southern District of Florida and the Central District of California, respectively.

According to the indictment, from August 2024, Lam, Serrano, and others conspired to engage in cryptocurrency theft and launder proceeds through exchanges and mixing services. They illegally obtained victims' cryptocurrency accounts through fraudulent means and then transferred the victims' funds to their own accounts. They laundered these illegal proceeds through various methods, including "peel chain" operations, using multiple mixers and exchanges, transition wallets, and virtual private networks to conceal their true identities. Lam and Serrano allegedly used the laundered proceeds for luxury expenses such as international travel, nightclubs, luxury cars, watches, jewelry, designer handbags, and rental properties in Los Angeles and Miami. In one instance, on August 18, 2024, Lam, Serrano, and their co-conspirators fraudulently obtained over 4,100 Bitcoin (worth over $2.3 billion at the time) through communication with a Washington, D.C. victim.

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the FBI Washington Field Office, and the IRS Criminal Investigation Washington Field Office. The FBI Los Angeles and Miami Field Offices provided significant investigative and operational support.

An indictment is merely an accusation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.