California man pleads guilty to RICO charges as DOJ indicts crypto theft gang

The report describes the Social Engineering Enterprise, an organized criminal group that used hacked or purchased databases, phone-based social engineering (including fake push notifications and tech-support scams), remote desktop access, and physical burglaries to steal large amounts of cryptocurrency (notably over 4,100 BTC valued at ~$263M at the time). Members laundered funds through exchanges and mixers, used luxury rentals and high-value purchases to dissipate proceeds, and operated across multiple U.S. states and abroad; multiple defendants have pleaded guilty or been charged and arrests occurred in Miami and Dubai.