Hacker jailed for laundering $1,000,000,000 in stolen Bitcoin with rapper wife

A tech entrepreneur has been jailed for laundering funds stolen from 1 of the biggest ever cryptocurrency thefts.

Ilya Lichtenstein, 35, hacked into the Bitfinex web successful 2016 and stole astir 120,000 bitcoin.

He and his woman Heather Morgan – who utilized the alias ‘Razzlekhan’ to beforehand her rap euphony – were arrested successful February 2022.

At the clip of the hack, the stolen crypto currency was worthy astir £56 cardinal but had risen to much than £3.5 cardinal by the clip they were caught and is present worthy treble that.

The £2.8 cardinal worthy of assets recovered arsenic portion of the lawsuit was the biggest fiscal seizure successful the US Department of Justice’s history.

Jailing Lichtenstein for 5 years, US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said the theft was ‘meticulously planned’ and not an impulsive act.

‘It’s important to nonstop a connection that you can’t perpetrate these crimes with impunity, that determination are consequences to them,’ she said.

Lichtenstein apologised for ‘wasting my talents connected transgression alternatively of a affirmative publication to society’.

He said helium hoped to enactment his peculiar acceptable of skills to bully usage by helping to combat cybercrime erstwhile helium gets retired of prison.

‘I privation to instrumentality afloat work for my actions and marque amends immoderate mode I can,’ helium said.

The justice is scheduled to condemnation Morgan connected Monday. 

Lichtenstein pleaded with the justice to spare his woman from prison, blaming himself for her involvement.

The entrepreneur and cryptocurrency capitalist is simply a US national who was calved successful Russia and grew up successful a Chicago suburb.

Morgan, a concern proprietor and writer, adopted the change ego ‘Razzlekhan’ for performing rap songs and signaling videos for her music.

Lichtenstein and Morgan were surviving successful New York City erstwhile they were arrested successful February 2022.

They had been surviving successful San Francisco astir the clip of the hack.

Prosecutors recommended a five-year situation condemnation for Lichtenstein, who pleaded blameworthy successful August 2023 to 1 number of wealth laundering conspiracy.

They recommended an 18-month situation condemnation for Morgan, who pleaded blameworthy to the aforesaid charge.

‘Neither the hack nor the laundering strategy was an impulsive decision,’ prosecutors wrote.

‘The suspect (Lichtenstein) spent months attempting to summation entree to Bitfinex’s infrastructure and get the accesses and permissions helium needed successful bid to orchestrate his hack.’

Lichtenstein told his woman astir the hack implicit 3 years later, but helium initially solicited her assistance successful laundering the proceeds ‘without explaining precisely what helium was doing’, according to prosecutors.

Morgan ‘was surely a consenting subordinate and bears afloat work for her actions, but she was a lower-level participant’, they added.

During household trips to Kazakhstan and Ukraine, Lichtenstein met with couriers who delivered him wealth that helium smuggled backmost into the US.

Bitcoin is the largest and oldest cryptocurrency, which is integer wealth that typically is not backed by immoderate authorities oregon banking institution.

Transactions get recorded with exertion called a blockchain.

The mates successfully laundered astir 21% of the funds stolen from Bitfinex.

The laundered wealth was worthy astatine slightest $14 cardinal (£11 million) astatine 2016 prices. Its worth would person exceeded $1 cardinal astatine the clip of their 2022 arrest.

Authorities seized the remaining funds, collectively valued astatine implicit six cardinal dollars astatine existent prices.

‘He became 1 of the top wealth launderers that the authorities has encountered successful the cryptocurrency space,’ prosecutors wrote.

An lawyer for Bitfinex said the hack ‘devastated’ its finances and its estimation with its customers, with the stolen funds accounting for astir 36% of the company’s assets astatine the clip of theft.

Over 96% of the stolen funds person been recovered with assistance from Lichtenstein, according to defence lawyer Samson Enzer.

The ‘vast bulk’ of the stolen wealth was ne'er spent, the lawyer said.

‘This is not an evil person,’ Mr Enzer said. ‘This is simply a bully idiosyncratic who made immoderate precise atrocious mistakes.’

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