It had accidentally become one of the largest theft and money laundering cases in US history: an American couple was convicted of hacking 120,000 bitcoins on the Bitfinex platform in 2016. At the time, the loot was worth a little more than 71 million dollars; With the price of the crypto asset on the rise, stolen bitcoins are now worth more than $10 billion.
Ilya Lichtenstein, 35, had already been sentenced on Thursday, November 14, to five years in prison for stealing these bitcoins by taking advantage of a security breach at Bitfinex. At the time of the attack, Lichtenstein had just left the startup he worked for after a conflict with his boss. His partner, Heather Morgan, who did not participate in the hack but helped him launder the crypto assets, was in turn sentenced on Monday to eighteen months in prison.
Multiple sources of bleaching
According to the investigation, the couple had used both elaborate and somewhat artisanal techniques to launder the proceeds of the theft, by creating multiple accounts, with false identities, on different cryptoasset exchange platforms and illegal sales sites. Some of the bitcoins were used to purchase NFTs, gold, or gift cards valid at Walmart supermarkets. The couple had spent around 20% of the stolen bitcoins before their arrest; the rest of the loot was seized.
Heather Morgan aroused great curiosity during her arrest, due to her significant presence on the Internet: the young woman had published rap clips of dubious quality under the pseudonyms “Razzlekhan” and “Crocodile of Wall Street.” At the hearing, his lawyer explained that these videos, which he had started publishing before the hack, had helped him escape the consequences of professional burnout syndrome.
The couple benefited from relatively light sentences after agreeing to collaborate with American justice.
