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Two men were arrested in September 2024 after federal prosecutors accused them of conspiring to steal and launder more than $230 million in cryptocurrency from a Washington, D.C., victim. The U.S. Department of Justice said the indictment charged Malone Lam and Jeandiel Serrano; it was an accusation, not proof of guilt.
Who was arrested?
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia announced on September 19, 2024, that Malone Lam and Jeandiel Serrano had been arrested the previous night. The office described Lam as associated with Miami and Los Angeles, and Serrano with Los Angeles. The indictment charged both with conspiracy to steal and launder cryptocurrency. The DOJ announcement says the charges are allegations and that both defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
What does the $230 million figure mean?
Prosecutors alleged that on August 18, 2024, the group obtained more than 4,100 Bitcoin from the victim. The DOJ valued that Bitcoin at more than $230 million at the time. That is the alleged value on the date of the theft, not a current valuation of the Bitcoin or a finding that either defendant took that amount. The charging announcement does not establish the victim’s identity.
How did prosecutors say the theft and laundering worked?
The indictment alleged that the group gained fraudulent access to cryptocurrency accounts, transferred assets to the conspirators, and then moved funds through cryptocurrency exchanges and mixing services. Prosecutors identified peel chains, pass-through wallets and VPNs among the methods allegedly used to obscure the movement of funds. These are allegations in the case, not independently established findings of guilt.
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BleepingComputer’s contemporaneous account, which describes details attributed to court documents, said the alleged social-engineering scheme involved impersonating Google and Gemini support, manipulating account-security steps, and using remote-desktop software. Those operational specifics are reported details, not findings stated in the DOJ charging announcement. Read BleepingComputer’s report.
How does this case relate to the later $263 million enterprise case?
In a separate announcement on April 24, 2026, the DOJ said Evan Tangeman was sentenced to 70 months in prison for laundering money generated by a multi-state enterprise that stole more than $263 million in cryptocurrency. Prosecutors said the broader enterprise began no later than October 2023 and continued through at least May 2025, growing out of online gaming friendships. The DOJ described roles including database hackers, organizers, target identifiers, callers and burglars who targeted hardware cryptocurrency wallets. The sentencing release concerns Tangeman and the wider enterprise; its more-than-$263 million total is distinct from the alleged $230 million theft, and Tangeman’s sentence is not a sentence for Lam or Serrano.
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What is known about Lam and Serrano’s current case status?
The DOJ charging announcement confirms the September 2024 charges and arrests. The later DOJ release about Tangeman does not establish Lam’s or Serrano’s final case disposition. Channel NewsAsia’s report, updated September 9, 2026, recounts allegations from court filings, including that Lam was arrested in Miami on September 18, 2024; those details remain allegations unless tied to a later court outcome. Read Channel NewsAsia’s report. An arrest or indictment alone does not establish guilt.
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