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A hacker who helped launder the proceeds of a bitcoin theft from a cryptocurrency trade was sentenced to 5 years in jail for his function within the conspiracy.
The Justice Division (DOJ) mentioned in a launch that Ilya Lichtenstein, 35, hacked into the community of crypto trade Bitfinex in 2016 utilizing subtle hacking instruments to fraudulently authorize over 2,000 transactions that transferred 119,754 bitcoin from the trade to a crypto pockets he managed. He then deleted recordsdata from the trade’s entry logs that would’ve revealed his actions to legislation enforcement.
Lichtenstein’s scheme to launder the ill-gotten beneficial properties was aided by his spouse Heather Morgan, a rapper who goes by the stage identify “Razzlekhan” and went viral on social media platforms after the case was revealed. In certainly one of her songs, Morgan rapped about how she is the “crocodile of Wall Road.”
The pair deployed what the DOJ referred to as “quite a few subtle laundering strategies” to launder the bitcoin; utilizing fictitious identities to arrange on-line accounts; automated transactions; and depositing stolen funds into darknets and crypto exchanges, then withdrawing the funds.
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Ilya Lichtenstein was sentenced to 5 years in jail over his bitcoin theft and cash laundering scheme. (Picture illustration by Chesnot/Getty Photos / Getty Photos)
They transformed bitcoin to different cryptocurrencies – a apply referred to as “chain hopping” – and deposited the prison proceeds into crypto mixing providers. The duo additionally utilized U.S.-based accounts to legitimize banking exercise and swapped among the stolen funds for gold cash.
Prosecutors wrote in a submitting that Lichtenstein informed Morgan concerning the hack three years later, although he beforehand obtained her help within the scheme “with out explaining precisely what he was doing.” They added that the duo efficiently laundered about 21% of the proceeds.
The stolen bitcoin was value roughly $70 million on the time it was stolen, although that rose to over $4.5 billion on the time of their arrest and is value greater than twice that quantity at present costs.
Heather “Razzlekhan” Morgan pleaded responsible over her function in Lichtenstein’s stolen crypto laundering scheme. (OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP through Getty Photos / Getty Photos)
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Each Lichtenstein and Morgan pleaded responsible to conspiracy to commit cash laundering in August 2023. Along with his five-year jail time period, Lichtenstein was ordered by the court docket to serve three years of supervised launch.
Morgan is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 18.
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