- Bitfinex crypto hack resulted within the theft of 120,000 bitcoins
- Ilya Lichtenstein used quite a few refined strategies to cover stolen funds between 2016 and 2022
- He instructed his spouse and a co-conspirator in regards to the hack in 2020, who then helped him disguise the stolen property
US prosecutors have instructed a choose that the mastermind behind the Bitfinex hack ought to get 5 years in jail.
Ilya Lichtenstein, who pleaded responsible final 12 months after stealing 120,000 bitcoins, was arrested in 2022. His spouse and co-conspirator Heather Morgan was additionally arrested in reference to the 2016 Bitfinex crypto hack. In the course of the arrest, police seized round $71 million price of bitcoins on the time of the hack.
In response to Bloomberg, the lawsuit was filed within the U.S. District Court docket in Columbia, U.S. prosecutors say Lichtenstein ought to obtain an extended sentence than Morgan, also called the rapper Razzlekhan.
Final week, federal prosecutors really useful that Morgan obtain an 18-month jail sentence given her “vital help” within the case and the truth that she didn’t know her husband had hacked Bitfinex.
Prosecutors argued {that a} stiffer sentence for Liechtenstein would assist deter younger cybercriminals from making an attempt the identical. In response to them, this on-line exercise is “normalized in a manner that downplays the affect on victims”.
Prosecutors imagine that imposing a stiffer sentence will “assist break this cycle.”
Sole accountability for the hack
Whereas each have been initially believed to be concerned within the inventory trade hack, Lichtenstein was recognized because the individual primarily accountable.
It wasn't till 2020 that Morgan discovered about what her husband had achieved and confessed to serving to him disguise the stolen crypto. After the hack, Lichtenstein transferred round 120,000 bitcoins to his personal pockets beneath his management.
Over the following few years, he withdrew 25,000 bitcoins, laundered the stolen funds via darknet markets, dodgy digital forex exchanges, and mixers and tumblers, together with Bitcoin Fog, Helix, and ChipMixer.
With Morgan's assist, the couple used the stolen funds to purchase non-fungible tokens (NFTs), gold and Walmart reward playing cards.
Prosecutors didn’t press the choose to offer Liechtenstein the utmost sentence due to his help in different prison instances. For instance, in February, Lichtenstein testified as a authorities witness within the cash laundering trial towards Bitcoin Fog.
The pair are anticipated to be sentenced in November.
