Overview
- Prosecutors say Lam led a social‑engineering scheme that took more than 4,100 Bitcoin from a Washington investor on Aug. 18, 2024 by impersonating Google and a crypto exchange to obtain account access and security codes.
- The Department of Justice has charged Lam and 17 others under RICO with racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering as part of a broader probe of a group that operated from late 2023 to 2025.
- Lam is scheduled to appear in federal court for a plea‑agreement hearing on Sept. 8, 2026 in Washington, D.C., a step that would make him the latest defendant to admit guilt in the case if the deal is accepted.
- Law enforcement has frozen or recovered about $70 million linked to the theft while roughly $193 million of the stolen funds remain unaccounted for because investigators say the assets were layered through multiple exchanges and conversion services.
- Investigators traced suspects after conspicuous spending and operational errors, including a visible IP address and a month‑long spree on luxury cars, jets and watches that also triggered violence and an alleged extortion attempt against a co‑defendant’s family.