Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS
‘The DOJ recovers more than $4 billion linked to the cyberattack.’
Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan, the couple involved in the 2016 Bitfinex hack, have recently pleaded guilty in court to their crimes. Lichtenstein confessed to using sophisticated hacking tools and techniques to gain unauthorized access to Bitfinex’s network. He then proceeded to move 119,754 bitcoins, worth billions of dollars, to his own wallets. In an attempt to cover his tracks, Lichtenstein deleted access credentials and other digital evidence. Morgan, his wife, aided him in laundering and transferring the stolen funds.
During their arrest, the Justice Department seized 95,000 of the stolen bitcoins, amounting to a value of $3.6 billion at the time. This seizure marked the largest financial confiscation in the agency’s history. Subsequently, authorities were able to trace more of the stolen funds, recovering an additional $475 million worth of cryptocurrency.
The Department of Justice revealed that the couple established online accounts on darknet markets and cryptocurrency exchanges using false identities. From there, they withdrew the funds and converted them into other forms of cryptocurrency, utilizing crypto mixing services to obscure the origin of the coins. To create a facade of legitimacy, they set up businesses in the United States. Morgan even promoted her supposed multimillion-dollar business on TikTok, claiming it had zero outside funding. Additionally, the couple used the stolen funds to purchase physical gold coins, which Morgan then buried.
Regarding their charges, Lichtenstein pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering, potentially facing a maximum prison sentence of 20 years. Morgan, on the other hand, pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering conspiracy and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. Each charge carries a maximum prison sentence of five years.