A hacker involved in one of the largest cryptocurrency heists has been sentenced to five years in a U.S. prison for laundering stolen funds.
Ilya Lichtenstein admitted to laundering almost 120,000 bitcoin taken from the cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex in 2016, a theft initially worth around $70 million, which later surged to over $4.5 billion.
Lichtenstein, who pled guilty last year, collaborated with his wife, Heather Morgan, known by her rap alias “Razzlekhan,” to move the stolen assets. The couple used various methods to cover their tracks, including fake identities, cryptocurrency exchanges, and even gold coin purchases, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
At the time of their arrest in 2022, law enforcement recovered $3.6 billion in assets, marking the largest financial seizure in DOJ history, said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco.
“This sentence sends a strong message that such crimes come with consequences,” said Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly.
Lichtenstein, who has been in custody since February 2022, expressed regret in court and shared plans to use his tech skills to combat cybercrime in the future. Morgan, who also pled guilty to money laundering conspiracy, is scheduled for sentencing on November 18.
According to court documents, Lichtenstein hacked into Bitfinex using advanced hacking techniques. Afterward, he worked with Morgan to launder the funds, reportedly meeting couriers to move money back to the U.S. during family trips. Morgan’s “Razzlekhan” persona gained online attention, as she shared music videos and rap lyrics describing herself as the “crocodile of Wall Street” and a “bad-ass money maker.”
Morgan also presented herself as a tech entrepreneur in media articles, describing her work as an “economist, serial entrepreneur, software investor, and rapper.”
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