On Thursday , Heather Morgan , a.k.a . Razzlekhan , and her husband plead shamefaced to orchestrating a massive money laundering schema . Morgan and Ilya Lichtenstein became known as the modern - day “ Bitcoin Bonnie and Clyde ” after they were linked to the 2016 theft of$4.5 billion in crypto from the Hong Kong - based exchangeBitfinex .
The FBI cornered and arrested the pair for the heist in 2022 and through a search warrant , was capable to recuperate the majority of the money in what the Justice Departmentcalledits “ large financial gaining control ever . ”
Prior to their plea deal , Morgan and Lichtenstein had not been formally implicated in thecryptotheft .
Screenshot: Razzlekhan (Fair Use)
While promoting her crypto - rap vocation , Morgan and Lichtenstein were conducting an elaborate plan to wash Bitfinex bitcoins . The couple split the Bitcoin into small-scale amounts and then transferred it to thousands of crypto wallets using phoney identity . They purchased amber coins , combine the steal funds with extraneous criminal cryptocurrency on Alphabay , a darknet marketplace , and created shell company to make their stolen Bitcoin look licit .
The Justice Department allege Lichtenstein “ used a number of advanced hacking cock and techniques to gain access to Bitfinex ’s web , ” allow him to authorize more than 2,000 fraudulent transactions and transpose 120,000 bitcoin to a controlled cryptocurrency wallet , according to a DOJpress release . After Lichtenstein hacked Bitfinex , he deleted access credentials and any other logarithm files that could have revealed his identity to confidence and then enlisted Morgan to wash the stolen funds , the press release articulate .
However , Morgan and Lichtenstein ’s unfastening came when they used the stolen Bitcoin to purchase Walmart verifier , creating a lead that government agency were able to trace back to the couple ’s Manhattan flat . “ police force were able to link the Walmart gift cards back to some of the take of the Bitfinex hack , which then spread out up further investigating , ” Jonathan Levin , founder of cryptocurrency investigators Chainalysis which was regard in the investigating , say theBBC .
“ buy endowment add-in and strike between dissimilar exchanges and different cryptocurrency never actually created this form of break in provenance that the mates intend , ” he say .
When police raided their flat , investigators recovered stolen funds value at around $ 3.6 billion , $ 40,000 in cash , slews of burner phone hidden in hollow - out books , and a spreadsheet that they decrypted to reveal their planned method for laundering the money . prosecuting attorney claim that according to Morgan and Lichtenstein ’s communication records , they were planning to flee to Ukraine or Russia — Lichtenstein ’s home country , harmonize to court documents viewed by Gizmodo .
US District Judge Colleen Kollar - Kotelly accepted the distich ’s guilty supplication , and Lichtenstein is currently being held in jail while he expect sentencing . He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to place money laundering , carry a maximal punishment of 20 year in prison , the DOJ said in the insistence release .
Morgan pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering and one count of cabal to defraud the U.S. and remains under house check while wait for her sentencing . Each count carries a penalty of up to five years in prison house .
BitcoinCryptocurrenciesLaw , CrimeMoney launderingPrivate currency
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