- Bitfinex crypto hack resulted within the theft of 120,000 Bitcoins
- Ilya Lichtenstein used a collection of refined strategies to hide stolen funds between 2016 and 2022
- He advised his spouse and co-conspirator concerning the hack in 2020, who then helped him conceal the stolen belongings.
US prosecutors have advised a choose that the mastermind behind the Bitfinex alternate hack needs to be sentenced to 5 years in jail.
Ilya Lichtenstein, who pleaded responsible final yr after stealing 120,000 Bitcoins, was arrested in 2022. His spouse and co-conspirator Heather Morgan was additionally taken into custody, in reference to the 2016 Bitfinex crypto hack. Following their arrest, police seized Bitcoin value roughly $71 million on the time of the hack.
In keeping with Bloomberg, a submitting has been submitted to the U.S. District Court docket of Columbia. US prosecutors consider Lichtenstein ought to obtain an extended sentence than Morgan, often known as the rapper Razzlekhan.
Final week, federal prosecutors advisable that Morgan be sentenced to 18 months in jail given her “substantial help” within the case and the truth that she didn’t know her husband had hacked Bitfinex.
Prosecutors argued {that a} harsher sentence in opposition to Lichtenstein would assist deter younger cybercriminals from making an attempt the identical factor. In keeping with them, this on-line exercise is “normalized in such a approach as to trivialize the impression on victims”.
By imposing a harsher sentence, prosecutors say it can “assist break this cycle.”
Sole accountability for piracy
Whereas they had been each initially regarded as concerned in hacking the alternate, Lichtenstein was recognized as the principle wrongdoer.
It wasn't till 2020 that Morgan found what her husband had completed and admitted to serving to him conceal the stolen crypto. Following the hack, Lichtenstein transferred roughly 120,000 Bitcoins to a custodial pockets beneath his management.
Over the subsequent few years, he withdrew 25,000 Bitcoins, laundering the stolen funds by way of darknet markets, non-compliant digital forex exchanges, and mixers and tumblers together with Bitcoin Fog, Helix, and ChipMixer.
With Morgan's assist, the 2 males used the stolen funds to buy non-fungible tokens (NFTs), gold, and Walmart reward playing cards.
Prosecutors didn’t push the choose to provide Lichtenstein the utmost sentence due to his help in different legal circumstances. For instance, in February, Lichtenstein testified as a authorities witness in a cash laundering trial in opposition to Bitcoin Fog.
Each males are anticipated to be sentenced in November.
