Malone Lam Crypto Syndicate
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anchored·4DGtC5…Yu1KSummary
The Malone Lam Crypto Syndicate, designated by U.S. prosecutors as the 'Social Engineering Enterprise', is an alleged criminal network of young men who met through online gaming and, between October 2023 and at least May 2025, stole more than $263 million in cryptocurrency through impersonation calls, database theft and home invasions targeting hardware wallets — including over 4,100 BTC from a single Washington, D.C. victim in August 2024. The DOJ is prosecuting the group under the RICO statute in the District of Columbia; at least 17 people have been charged and nine have pleaded guilty, with sentences of 70 and 78 months handed down so far, while alleged leader Malone Lam and Jeandiel Serrano remain in pretrial proceedings.
Connected Entities
13 entities · 60 linked investigations- Ethereum→mentioned with→Bitcoin(60%)
- 263M RICO Social Engineering Crypto Theft Gang (DC — 2024-2026 Prosecutions)→mentioned with→Monero(75%)
- 263M RICO Social Engineering Crypto Theft Gang (DC — 2024-2026 Prosecutions)→mentioned with→Malone Lam(85%)
- 263M RICO Social Engineering Crypto Theft Gang (DC — 2024-2026 Prosecutions)→mentioned with→Bitcoin(70%)
- 263M RICO Social Engineering Crypto Theft Gang (DC — 2024-2026 Prosecutions)→mentioned with→Ethereum(60%)
- 263M RICO Social Engineering Crypto Theft Gang (DC — 2024-2026 Prosecutions)→mentioned with→ZachXBT(70%)
- Monero→mentioned with→Binance(70%)
- Monero→mentioned with→Bitcoin(60%)
- Monero→mentioned with→ZachXBT(65%)
- ZachXBT→mentioned with→Ethereum(70%)
- + 45 more
Connected Through
10 shared actors · 582 investigationsDistinct actors this investigation shares with others — holders, traders, and named parties. Shared infrastructure (exchanges, pools) is excluded.
- □Ethereumorganization
- □ZachXBTorganization
- ♦Bitcointoken
- □Binanceorganization
8 submissions awaiting moderator review.
Timeline(21 events)
October 2023
Social Engineering Enterprise begins operating no later than October 2023, per DOJ; Lam and early co-conspirators were living together in Texas and recruiting through online gaming networks.
TRM Labs; DOJ superseding indictmentFebruary 2024
Marlon Ferro ('GothFerrari') allegedly breaks into a home in Winnsboro, Texas, stealing a hardware wallet with about 100 BTC (over $5 million) — the first documented SE Enterprise theft.
Coin EditionJuly 2024
Ferro allegedly breaks into a home in New Mexico while Lam tracks the victim via iCloud; over $14 million in cryptocurrency stolen from a second victim.
TRM LabsAugust 2024
On August 18, Lam, Serrano and others including Danish Zulfiqar allegedly steal over 4,100 BTC from a Genesis creditor in Washington, D.C. via fake Google and Gemini support calls (value reported as $230M–$263M).
DOJ USAO-DCAugust 2024
On August 25, parents of defendant Veer Chetal are kidnapped in Danbury, Connecticut in a ransom plot later linked to Adam Iza.
NBC ConnecticutSeptember 2024
ZachXBT publishes tracing identifying 'Greavys' (Lam), 'Box' (Serrano) and 'Wiz' (Chetal); over $9 million in stolen assets frozen.
CoinDeskSeptember 2024
Lam arrested in Miami (September 18 or 19, sources differ) and Serrano in Los Angeles; indictment filed September 19 in the District of Columbia charging wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy.
DOJ USAO-DCOctober 2024
CNBC reports the Connecticut kidnapping of Chetal's parents is tied to the Bitcoin theft.
CNBCMay 2025
Marlon Ferro arrested on May 13 with two firearms and false identification documents.
Coin EditionMay 2025
First superseding indictment unsealed (May 15 or 16, sources differ), charging 12 more defendants with RICO conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering and obstruction; alleged losses exceed $263 million.
DOJ USAO-DCNovember 2025
Kunal Mehta pleads guilty to RICO conspiracy (November 18), the eighth defendant to do so, admitting laundering at least $25 million.
IRS-CIDecember 2025
Nicholas Dellecave arrested in Miami on December 3 on a RICO conspiracy charge in the second superseding indictment.
IRS-CIDecember 2025
Evan Tangeman pleads guilty to RICO conspiracy on December 8, the ninth defendant to do so, admitting laundering at least $3.5 million and directing destruction of evidence.
DecryptDecember 2025
Mustafa Ibrahim and Danish Zulfiqar arrested in Dubai on RICO conspiracy charges in the second superseding indictment.
IRS-CIJanuary 2026
Status conference on January 12 in D.D.C. on plea negotiations for Lam and Serrano, both still in pretrial detention.
CourtListenerApril 2026
Evan Tangeman sentenced on April 24 to 70 months in prison plus three years of supervised release.
DOJ USAO-DCMay 2026
Marlon Ferro sentenced on May 7 to 78 months in prison, three years of supervised release and $2.5 million restitution.
DOJ USAO-DCJune 2026
Gamer Crew page reports the second superseding indictment (Dellecave, Ibrahim, Zulfiqar) announced; the RICO page dates its unsealing to December 2025. Adam Iza pleads guilty in the related kidnapping case.
DOJ USAO-DCDecision Log
- slot 462057499 · hash 6Fhec26PhwjBwEyK1SjhCenknWRowmgLF1hJGoWWCAST
- slot 462057494 · hash 2k6cGnUwF1uoKUNJB92pcAwzML51eKhGYNe1vGF1FpVW
- slot 445506242 · hash 3kkETkwkkBxA4UicLJGidQx45EFnYGsHLT7ND1imv3Qx
- slot 443514483 · hash EtjYsx4fWZiWtCUZEiQGtwT6E6kCUAH5DoT3zsDpJyve
- slot 443514480 · hash BYadtfA6RRkQ4X5L9i2g6sgd7P96kWQ3bnmAohoeJHAU
- slot 426733851 · hash 7JNJDsbqertY4jeqLFkNY3tFpfdsySQy1whR3xKj3Mpt
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (6 decisions). 42 of 51 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-code-merge-writer
generated: 6/15/2026, 11:27:10 PM
last updated: 10/27/2026, 11:41:58 AM
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