Cryptocurrency theft linked to kidnapping, luxury cars, travel | Wilnesh News

A month before their arrest, Serrano, Lin and other unnamed co-conspirators targeted a man in Washington “because they believed he had large amounts of virtual currency” and because they “identified him from early on as a A high net worth investor.” The Age of Cryptocurrency,” court documents state.

A court filing said that in early August, a co-conspirator sent victims an “unauthorized Google account access” notification, making it appear that the access attempt was made overseas.

“In reality, this was simply a sophisticated social engineering effort by the conspirators to lay the groundwork for the imminent theft,” prosecutors wrote in a filing.

On August 18, members of the conspiracy called the man, claiming to be from the Google security team, to inquire about recent unauthorized access attempts.

“Through a series of tips and false statements,” the co-conspirators managed to manipulate the man into providing them with enough information to access his Google Drive, “they soon found personal financial information, including information about his holdings of virtual currency in Gemini. Location, a document said, is a cryptocurrency exchange.

Prosecutors said Serrano and other participants in the scheme then called the man, with Serrano posing as a member of the Gemini support team.

As he spoke with the victim, Serrano and his co-conspirators were communicating with each other on Discord and the Telegram messaging app, “developing strategies” to manipulate the victim into providing the private keys to their virtual currency holdings and sufficient computer access to conspire. Stealing his entire savings,” the document said.

The conspirators then tricked the man into downloading a program onto his computer to protect his Gemini assets.

But according to prosecutors, the program actually gave co-conspirators instant access to victims’ desktops.

“Serrano was ultimately able to manipulate the victim into using the private key to open the file.
More than 4,100 Bitcoins,” court documents state.

“As Serrano continued to manipulate his victims, his co-conspirators used this access to quickly steal the entirety of the virtual currency held by the victims.”

Prosecutors said the accomplices divided the proceeds from the thefts into five parts.

The conspirators then used “sophisticated money laundering techniques to hide the proceeds and obscure their identities,” a court filing said.

The document states that Serrano created an account on TradeOrgre.com and deposited $29 million worth of cryptocurrency “in the belief that the accounts were clean and that money had been successfully laundered.”

While he used a virtual private network to mask his location when accessing his account, Serrano failed to use a VPN when he created the account.

“TradeOgre records show that the account was created by registering to the IP address of Serrano’s $47,500-a-month rental home in Encino, California,” the document states.

By the time Serrano was identified by federal authorities, “he was already out of jail.”
country, vacationing in the Maldives,” the document said.

“Meanwhile, his co-conspirator Marlon Lin spent hundreds of thousands of dollars each night in Los Angeles nightclubs and amassed an impressive collection of custom Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Porsches,” prosecutors wrote.

Documents show that Lim, a Singaporean, was arrested after flying on a private jet from Los Angeles to Miami, where he rented multiple houses.

He rented a mansion there for $68,000 a month, documents said.

Prosecutors said Lin, who used the online handles “Anne Hathaway” and “$$$,” also purchased watches worth $2 million and a Lamborghini Revuelto worth more than $1 million.

But prosecutors wrote that “many of Lin’s vehicles have not been found, such as the Pagani Huayra he purchased for $3.8 million.”

In total, prosecutors wrote, Lam “admitted to purchasing 31 luxury cars, 22 of which have not yet been recovered by law enforcement.”

Prosecutors wrote that Lin “also admitted to conducting additional hacks and making millions of dollars from these separate cryptocurrency fraud schemes, which he said began since arriving in the United States in October 2023.” It has been supporting his entire lifestyle.

“The three vehicles Serrano admitted to purchasing have also not been found.”

A court filing said federal surveillance found Lam “lavishly spending the assets of victims,” ​​including witnessing him “at a Los Angeles nightclub … and giving away handbags worth tens of thousands of dollars.”

Management at the Los Angeles nightclub told investigators that Lin tried to pay the bill with cryptocurrency, “costing approximately $400,000 to $500,000 per night,” the documents said. A receipt from a Los Angeles club showed Lin spent “$569,528.39 in one night,” the documents said.

According to a court document, Serrano was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport on September 18 while returning from the Maldives with his girlfriend. An FBI agent interviewed the woman, but the woman denied knowing that Serrano was involved in the crime. .

“The FBI agent interviewed told her that the only way to make the situation worse was for her to call Serrano’s colleagues to inform them of the arrest,” the document states.

“Immediately after the interview, Serrano’s girlfriend called his criminal associates to inform them of his arrest, who in turn deleted all messages from their Telegram accounts and saved chats,” the document states. Evidence of crime.

“To date, approximately $70 million has been recovered or frozen on various exchanges,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing.

“Even taking into account the millions of dollars Serrano and his co-conspirators spent on cars and jewelry, more than $100 million remains unaccounted for.”

According to a court filing, Serrano had about $20 million worth of stolen bitcoins from victims on his phone and agreed to transfer the funds back to the FBI.

Three weeks before Serrano and Lin were arrested on August 25, police in Danbury, Connecticut, received multiple 911 calls reporting that a couple had been kidnapped by two men.

Court records and detectives. Sgt. Castro Vinci said the victims were driving a 2024 Lamborghini Urus, which they said their son had rented, when they were rear-ended by a white Honda Civic.

Then, a work truck drove up in front of the Lamborghini, and about six men wearing black masks surrounded the car.

The offender pulled the two victims out of the vehicle. The husband resisted and the kidnappers punched him in the face and hit him with a baseball bat, authorities said.

“The suspects repeatedly told (the couple) they would ‘kill them,'” FBI Special Agent Matthew Laux wrote in an affidavit supporting the case filed in U.S. District Court in Connecticut. Criminal prosecution of kidnappers.

“The victim was pushed behind the work truck and pinned down. The suspects then tied the victim’s arms and feet with silver tape. They also used the tape to cover (the husband’s) face. The suspects forced (his wife) ) Laux “lyed face down and ordered her not to look at them,” Laux’s testimony said. “

“Shortly after the van started moving, the couple heard sirens and one of the suspects yelling, ‘Call Rick… we’re in trouble,'” according to FBI agents. Shortly after, the van crashed and the suspect fled on foot, leaving the victim behind.

Police arrested four suspects later that day and two more the next day. All six suspects are from the Miami area.

Castro Finch told CNBC the couple were briefly hospitalized after the incident and they had no idea why they were targeted for kidnapping.

“They kept asking us, ‘Why?’ Castro Vinci said.

Castrovinci said Danbury police were already familiar with the abducted couple because their home had been the target of “beating” calls.

Assault is the act of calling the police and falsely claiming that a crime has occurred at another person’s home or business, often resulting in the police descending on the location.