Man behind $4,500,000,000 Bitfinex hack becomes federal witness in money laundering trial

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The infamous hacker who orchestrated the massive exploit of crypto exchange Bitfinex in 2016 has reportedly become a government witness.

In 2022, Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan – known as the “crypto couple” – were arrested for conspiring to launder $4.5 billion in stolen crypto assets from the Bitfinex hack. They pleaded guilty to the crime last year.

Now, Lichtenstein has appeared as a cooperating US government witness in an ongoing money laundering trial surrounding the crypto mixing service Bitcoin Fog, according to a new Bloomberg report.

Lichtenstein testified that he had access to Bitfinex’s systems for months and also operated accounts at the US crypto exchanges Coinbase and Kraken.

The hacker also reportedly testified that he used Bitcoin Fog up to a dozen times to launder his stolen proceeds, although he noted that he later switched to other mixers, according to the report.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested Roman Sterlingov, the alleged main operator of Bitcoin Fog, in 2021.

Lichtenstein, who also goes by the name “Dutch,” described himself on LinkedIn as a “technology entrepreneur, coder and investor.”

Morgan is a former Forbes columnist and CEO of a copywriting company. She is also a quirky YouTube rapper known as ‘Razzlekhan’.

According to Deadline, a feature film about the couple titled “Razzlekhan” is reportedly in development at Amazon MGM Studios.

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