A hacker has been sentenced to 5 years in a US jail for laundering the proceeds of one of many greatest ever cryptocurrency thefts.
Ilya Lichtenstein pleaded responsible final 12 months within the case involving the Bitfinex cryptocurrency alternate being hacked in 2016 and the theft of just about 120,000 bitcoin.
He laundered the stolen cryptocurrency with the assistance of his spouse Heather Morgan, who used the alias Razzlekhan to advertise her hip hop music.
On the time of the theft, the bitcoin was price round $70m (£55.3m), however had risen in worth to greater than $4.5bn by the point of they have been arrested. At right now’s costs they’d be price greater than double that.
The $3.6bn price of property recovered within the case was the largest monetary seizure within the DOJ’s historical past, deputy legal professional Common Lisa Monaco stated on the time.
“It’s vital to ship a message you can’t commit these crimes with impunity, that there are penalties to them,” district choose Colleen Kollar-Kotelly stated.
Lichtenstein, who has been in jail since his arrest in February 2022, expressed regret for his actions.
He additionally stated that he hopes to use his expertise to combat cybercrime after serving his sentence.
Morgan additionally pleaded responsible final 12 months to at least one rely of conspiracy to commit cash laundering. She is because of be sentenced on 18 November.
In accordance court docket paperwork, Lichtenstein used superior hacking instruments and strategies to hack into Bitfinex.
Following the hack, he enlisted Morgan’s assist to launder the stolen funds.
They “employed quite a few refined laundering strategies”, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) said in a statement.
The strategies included utilizing fictitious identities, switching the funds into totally different cryptocurrencies and shopping for gold cash.
Lichtenstein, who was born in Russia however grew up within the US, would then meet couriers whereas on household journeys and transfer the laundered a reimbursement residence, prosecutors stated.
Morgan’s Razzlekhan persona went viral on social media when the case emerged.
Even because the couple tried to cowl up the hack, she revealed dozens of expletive-filled music movies and rap songs filmed in places round New York.
In her lyrics she referred to as herself a “bad-ass cash maker” and “the crocodile of Wall Avenue”.
In articles revealed in Forbes journal, Morgan additionally claimed to be a profitable expertise businesswoman, calling herself an “economist, serial entrepreneur, software program investor and rapper”.
