California Man Admits Laundering $230M in Stolen Crypto
▼ Summary
– Kunal Mehta pleaded guilty to laundering at least $25 million from a $230 million cryptocurrency heist and is the eighth defendant to do so in this case.
– The criminal group, formed through online gaming friendships, used social engineering to steal cryptocurrency from victims between October 2023 and March 2025.
– Fourteen suspects were charged with theft and money laundering, including Malone Lam and Jeandiel Serrano, who stole over 4,100 Bitcoin in an August 18th attack.
– Mehta laundered funds by creating shell companies, converting cryptocurrency to cash, and charging a 10% fee, while the group spent stolen money on luxury items and services.
– Despite using techniques like crypto mixers and VPNs to hide their activities, the group made errors that linked the laundered funds to the original theft.
A California man has confessed to his role in a massive cryptocurrency laundering operation, admitting he processed at least $25 million from a staggering $230 million theft. Kunal Mehta, a 45-year-old Irvine resident who went by several aliases including “Papa,” “The Accountant,” and “Shrek,” entered a guilty plea, becoming the eighth individual to do so in a case initiated by the Department of Justice in May 2025.
Court filings reveal that Mehta was part of a widespread criminal network that used social engineering tactics to infiltrate victims’ cryptocurrency accounts over an 18-month period from October 2023 to March 2025. Once access was gained, the group transferred the digital assets into wallets they controlled. The organization reportedly formed through friendships made in online gaming communities and included numerous young adults from states like California, New York, Florida, and Connecticut, as well as international participants.
While other members focused on tasks like identifying targets, executing hacks, making fraudulent calls, and even stealing physical hardware wallets, Mehta specialized in money laundering. In total, fourteen individuals have been charged in connection with the theft and subsequent laundering of the $230 million in cryptocurrency.
Among those named are Malone Lam, a 20-year-old also known as “Greavys,” and 21-year-old Jeandiel Serrano, who used aliases like “Box” and “VersaceGod.” Both were arrested in Miami in September 2024. A federal indictment from May 2025 lists additional co-conspirators, including Marlon Ferro, Hamza Doost, Conor Flansburg, Ethan Yarally, Cody Demirtas, Aakash Anand, Evan Tangeman, Joel Cortes, and John Tucker Desmond, along with two unidentified individuals known online as “Chen” and “Danny.” These defendants face a range of charges, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, cyber-enabled racketeering conspiracy, money laundering, and obstruction of justice.
A particularly significant heist occurred on August 18th, when Lam and an accomplice stole more than 4,100 Bitcoin from a victim in Washington, D.C. At the time, the cryptocurrency was valued at over $230 million; its current worth exceeds $384.5 million. To conceal the illicit origins of the funds, the group employed a variety of sophisticated methods. They used cryptocurrency mixers and exchanges, created complex “peel chains” of transactions, moved funds through numerous pass-through wallets, and hid their locations using virtual private networks (VPNs).
Although the perpetrators converted most of the stolen cryptocurrency into Monero in an effort to anonymize the transactions, investigators say they made several critical mistakes. These errors inadvertently created a trail that linked the laundered funds back to the original thefts.
According to the Department of Justice, Mehta established multiple shell companies in 2024 specifically to launder money. He opened bank accounts for these entities to give the operation a veneer of legitimacy. His role involved receiving cryptocurrency that other members of the group had already partially laundered. Mehta would then transfer the digital currency to associates who used advanced blockchain techniques to further obscure its trail. Eventually, the stolen funds were wired back into the bank accounts of Mehta’s shell companies from other shell entities set up across the United States.
For his money laundering services, which included converting stolen crypto into fiat currency and arranging wire transfers, Mehta typically charged the criminal network a 10% fee.
The illicit proceeds financed an extraordinarily lavish lifestyle for the group. Investigators allege the stolen funds were spent on private jet charters, the purchase of at least 28 luxury vehicles with price tags ranging from $100,000 to $3.8 million, private security details, designer handbags, expensive watches, nightclub excursions, and international travel.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Reid Davis commented on the case, stating, “Mehta is the eighth defendant to plead guilty for his role in this scheme. Today’s plea reaffirms the FBI’s commitment to exposing fraudsters and should remind Americans to beware of online scammers: Do not reply to calls, emails, or texts that request personal information, such as your password, PIN, or any one-time passwords that are sent to your email or phone.”
(Source: Bleeping Computer)
