Los Angeles, CA – Law enforcement in Los Angeles has arrested two individuals involved in a $243 million social engineering scam that targeted a Genesis Global creditor. The scammers, identified as Malone Iam, Veer Chetal, and Jeandiel Serrano, swindled the funds from a single Genesis creditor in August by impersonating a Gemini customer support agent.
The sophisticated scam, which was uncovered by crypto investigator ZachXBT, led to the trio stealing 4,064 Bitcoin from the unsuspecting Genesis claimant. According to reports, the hackers shared their loot on video, expressing excitement over the successful theft. One of the perpetrators shouted, “I’m gonna spazz,” after the group received the stolen Bitcoin.
The funds were quickly funneled through multiple cryptocurrency exchanges and on-chain trading platforms, including Binance, eXch, and Thorswap, with the scammers also converting the stolen assets between Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, and Monero to cover their tracks.
Following the heist, the trio went on a spending spree, indulging in luxury cars and clubbing in Miami and Los Angeles. With the help of blockchain forensic teams, including CF Investigators and ZeroShadow, ZachXBT managed to track down the culprits. The investigation also prompted Binance’s security team to freeze around $9 million in stolen assets.
Thanks to the efforts of the victim and experts in the field, approximately $500,000 was recovered from the stolen funds. On September 18, Iam and Serrano were arrested in Los Angeles, although Chetal, the third member of the group, remains at large.
The massive theft occurred amidst the financial struggles of Genesis Global, a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which was facing $10 billion in liabilities. Genesis was caught in the fallout of the collapse of FTX and Three Arrows Capital, two major players in the crypto industry that crumbled following the implosion of the Terraform blockchain ecosystem.
As authorities continue to investigate, large transactions on the blockchain suggest more stolen funds were seized during the arrests, though the total recovery remains unclear.
