American couple accused of laundering stolen Bitfinex funds arrange plea deal
A couple accused of money laundering in connection with the 2016 hack of cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex has reached a plea bargain, Reuters reports. July 21st.
Chief Justice Colleen Collier Cottery has reportedly ordered prosecutors to provide copies of plea bargains from Heather Morgan and Ilya Lichtenstein by July 27. A plea bargain will then take place in a Washington court on August 3.
Reuters posted information based on current court filings.The document in question was not identified, but the summary of the document is Submitted on July 20th indicates that the magistrate’s case against both individuals has been closed pending deadlines, allegations, and exclusions.
Morgan and Lichtenstein were arrested in February 2022 and charged with laundering approximately 100,000 BTC in a Bitfinex hack six years ago.
the case continues to develop
CryptoSlate previously reported that the couple were suspected of laundering 119,756 bitcoins (BTC). The stolen funds were worth nearly $3.6 billion at the time of seizure, but were worth $4.5 billion when the story surfaced in February 2022. The above amount is again worth $3.6 billion at current market prices.
public prosecutor charged the couple A money laundering conspiracy and a conspiracy to defraud the United States. These charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 and 5 years in prison, respectively.
Reuters said in its latest report that prosecutors are now aiming to force the seizure of assets worth about $3 billion based on spot prices of various cryptocurrencies. Incidentally, the requested assets include not only cryptocurrencies, but also gold coins “unearthed and recovered by law enforcement” in California.
Morgan and Lichtenstein maintained a public presence. Morgan had a rap-hop career online under the alias “Razulkan”. Lichtenstein worked as a serial entrepreneur and also ran her YouTube channel as an amateur magician.
The couple’s quirky personal lives and large-scale criminal allegations led Netflix to release a series about the couple. The series has not yet been released.
An American couple accused of laundering stolen Bitfinex money has closed a plea bargain and made its first appearance on CryptoSlate.
