Couple Agrees to Forfeit Bitcoin Worth Billions as Part of Their Plea Deal
- The Bitfinex Bitcoin hack was one of the biggest crypto hacks in history.
- As part of their plea deal, the couple is expected to give up all their digital assets and funds before their arrest.
- The couple is scheduled to appear before a court on August 3 and could face a sentence of up to 20 years if convicted.
A couple suspected of laundering around $4.5 billion in cryptocurrency stolen from a hack on crypto exchange Bitfinex in 2016 has agreed to cooperate with US authorities and surrender all Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies owned before their arrest.
Married New Yorkers Heather “Razzlekhan” Morgan and Ilya Lichtenstein were arrested in February 2022 and accused of money laundering and conspiring to defraud the United States.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) reportedly seized $3.6 billion following the arrest last year. The DOJ at the time said the raid was its “largest financial seizure ever.” The DOJ also claimed that the two plotted to launder these funds and hinted at the possibility of the couple being behind the hack. However, such claims were never official.
Prosecutors, however, accused the couple of using different “sophisticated laundering techniques,” including using false identities, automating transactions, and using different exchanges and darknet markets to hide the funds.
The potential prison sentence for either defendant is still undetermined. The two were each charged with two counts of conspiracy last year, each of which carried a maximum sentence of 25 years. Court documents show that the couple is scheduled for an arraignment and plea hearing before U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in Washington on August 3.
According to court documents,
It was the object of the conspiracy for the defendants, Morgan and Lichtenstein, to unlawfully enrich themselves by laundering the proceeds of the hack and scheme to defraud the victim’s virtual currency exchange, Bitfinex, and to prevent detection of the laundering activity.
Interestingly, a plea deal will draw the curtain on one of the most dramatic criminal cases in the crypto space. The Bitfinex hack was one of the most notable hacks in crypto history. However, the identity of the hacker remains largely unknown.
Lawrence has covered some exciting stories in his career as a journalist, he finds blockchain-related stories very intriguing. He believes Web3 will change the world and wants everyone to be a part of it.
