Hacker launders stolen bitcoin, faces 5-year sentence
Date
11/18/2024 1:48:17 AM
(MENAFN) A hacker who assisted in laundering the proceeds of a bitcoin theft from a cryptocurrency exchange has been sentenced to five years in prison for his involvement in the conspiracy.
According to the Justice Department (DOJ), 35-year-old Ilya Lichtenstein hacked into the network of the Bitfinex crypto exchange in 2016, using advanced hacking tools to authorize over 2,000 fraudulent transactions that transferred 119,754 bitcoin to a crypto wallet he controlled. He also deleted files from the exchange's access logs that could have exposed his actions to law enforcement.
Lichtenstein's efforts to launder the stolen bitcoin were facilitated by his wife, Heather Morgan, a rapper known by the stage name "Razzlekhan." Morgan gained viral attention on social media after the case became public, with one of her songs featuring the line about being the "crocodile of Wall Street."
The pair employed what the DOJ described as "numerous sophisticated laundering techniques," including using fake identities to create online accounts, automating transactions, and funneling the stolen funds through darknets and crypto exchanges before withdrawing the money.
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