Burglar jailed for role in US$250m crypto theft ring allegedly led by Singaporean Malone Lam
Marlon Ferro also arranged to buy and send luxury handbags for Malone Lam’s girlfriend after the latter was detained by authorities.
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A 20-year-old man was sentenced to 78 months’ jail on Wednesday (May 6) in a US court for his role in a US$250 million cryptocurrency theft syndicate that was allegedly led by Singaporean Malone Lam.
Marlon Ferro was tasked with being the syndicate’s burglar to break into homes to steal hardware wallets.
He was also a key money launderer, using fraudulent identification documents to open a digital payment card account on a geo-blocked platform.
This allowed the syndicate members to spend stolen cryptocurrency at shops and nightclubs in the US, mainly in Miami.
After Lam was arrested and detained, Ferro was tasked with buying luxury handbags worth tens of thousands of dollars for Lam’s girlfriend in Miami. He also used the criminal proceeds to pay for Lam’s lawyers.
Ferro, also known as "GothFerrari" in the syndicate, pleaded guilty in October last year to one count of conspiracy to participate in a racketeering-influenced and corrupt organisation.
Besides the jail sentence, he was ordered to serve three years of supervised release and to pay US$2.5 million in restitution.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other authorities seized millions of dollars' worth of items in the case, including Rolls-Royce, Porsche and Lamborghini cars, expensive watches and clothing.
US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Ferris Pirro said Ferro served as the criminal enterprise’s “instrument of last resort”.
When the syndicate members could not cheat victims into handing over access to their cryptocurrency or hack their way into digital accounts, they turned to Ferro to break into homes to steal hardware wallets, she added.
The prosecution described him as the "proverbial muscle" for the syndicate and a "vital cog" of the crime ring.
CAUGHT ON CAMERA
According to court documents, the syndicate stole more than US$250 million in cryptocurrency between late 2023 and early 2025.
Members of this crime ring were based in California, Connecticut, New York, Florida and abroad, and were allegedly led by Lam. Seventeen people have been arrested or charged in connection with the syndicate.
In February 2024, Ferro travelled to Winnsboro, Texas, where he broke into a victim’s home and stole a hardware wallet containing about 100 Bitcoin, valued at the time at more than US$5 million. He then laundered the stolen funds through cryptocurrency exchanges.
After he moved to California in early 2024, Ferro connected with members of the syndicate, including Lam, where he offered his burglary services.
In July that year, Ferro flew to New Mexico, where he watched a home for several days, using a mobile phone to monitor a victim’s movements.
The syndicate had socially engineered the victim into giving them access to his email account.
Lam and another alleged co-conspirator asked Ferro to commit this burglary because they believed the victim held about US$30 million in virtual currency in a hardware wallet.
Lam tracked the victim’s location by logging into his iCloud account. When the group believed the victim had left the home, Ferro broke into the home by using a brick to smash a window at the rear of the house.
He scoured the home for the hardware wallet and took several digital devices, but could not find the wallet.
Ferro was caught on the victim’s surveillance camera.
The 20-year-old also solicited additional burglaries from the syndicate in August 2024, saying he needed “licks”, referring to targets.
The prosecution said that Ferro learnt several members of the syndicate had stolen US$248 million in cryptocurrency from a victim almost immediately after the theft occurred. Ferro was with Lam for portions of the crime.
Following Lam’s arrest in September 2024, Ferro collected funds from other members of the crime ring to pay for Lam’s attorneys, despite knowing the funds were illegal profits from crime.
Specifically, Ferro received hundreds of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency, converted it into different types of cryptocurrencies, then converted it into fiat cash through illicit crypto-to-cash services,” said the prosecution.
Ferro also organised the purchase and shipment of Hermes Birkin bags on behalf of Lam for his girlfriend in Miami.
Ferro was arrested on May 13, 2025, and possessed a fake identification document and two firearms.
“DRAIN VICTIMS”
The prosecution said the members of the crypto theft ring used the money to buy nightclub services ranging up to US$500,000 per evening and luxury handbags that were given away at parties.
They also bought cars worth up to US$3.8 million, watches valued between US$100,000 and US$500,000 and luxury clothing worth tens of thousands of dollars.
Besides renting private jets and homes in Los Angeles, the Hamptons and Miami, the syndicate members also had a team of private security guards.
“This scheme blended sophisticated online fraud with old-fashioned burglary to drain victims of millions of dollars in digital assets,” said Ms Pirro after Wednesday's sentencing of Ferro.
“Today’s sentence sends a clear message: cryptocurrency fraud is not a victimless, consequence-free crime carried out safely behind a screen – it is serious criminal conduct that will lead to federal prison.”
Earlier in the week, Lam’s lawyer said “significant progress” had been made on the case against him, but he did not update the court on the status of plea deal discussions.
Both the prosecution and defence asked for additional time to deliberate on the subsequent stages of the proceedings.
The US government put forward a new plea offer in mid-November last year.
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