Douze young American gamers have been charged with diverting over $263 million in cryptocurrency, including 4,100 BTC stolen from a single investor.
Douze jeunes gamers sont accusés d’avoir volé $263 millions en BTC
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has made a bold move: twelve new individuals are indicted for their alleged involvement in a cybercriminal network that diverted more than $263 million in cryptocurrencies, including 4,100 BTC stolen from a single investor in August last year.
De joueurs en ligne à cyberbraqueurs internationaux
They are between 18 and 22 years old, with usernames such as ‘Goth Ferrari’ or ‘The Accountant’, and most of them are from California. Their common ground: hours spent together playing video games before embarking on what the DOJ describes as a ‘digital racketeering conspiracy.’ A violent shift, involving hacks, burglaries, identity theft, and global money laundering.
The network is believed to have started in October 2023. At its helm: Malone Lam, charged as early as September 2024. According to authorities, he fraudulently gained access to a wallet containing over 4,100 bitcoins, now valued at over $420 million. This single heist would account for $230 million of the total estimated loot of $263 million.
Cambriolages ciblés et blanchiment sophistiqué
The group didn’t just hack databases. Some members would call their victims to manipulate them over the phone, others would track their movements via iCloud, while accomplices physically entered their homes to seize their physical wallets.
Once the stolen crypto assets were obtained, they were laundered through VPNs, cryptocurrency mixers, and ‘peel chains,’ a method of fragmenting stolen amounts across dozens of wallets.
Several defendants have already been arrested, but two suspects are reportedly on the run in Dubai. They all now face serious charges: conspiracy, electronic fraud, and aggravated laundering under the RICO Act, reserved for organized criminal enterprises.
Bitcoin, bolides et bouteilles à 500 000 $
The stolen funds fueled a lavish lifestyle: night outs costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, renting private jets with fake papers, buying watches, luxury bags, and at least 28 sports cars, some worth up to $3.8 million. A digital heist of unprecedented violence, where gaming controllers were replaced by lines of code and legal weapons.
