1 year ago
A mates accused of wealth laundering successful transportation to a 2016 hack of the crypto speech Bitfinex person reached a plea deal, Reuters said connected July 21.
Senior Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly has reportedly ordered prosecutors to record a transcript of the plea woody from the accused, Heather Morgan and Ilya Lichtenstein, by July 27. A plea proceeding volition past instrumentality spot successful a Washington tribunal connected Aug. 3.
Reuters based its accusation connected existent tribunal filings. Though it did not place the papers successful question, a summary of a July 20 filing indicates that the magistrate lawsuit for some individuals has been closed pending deadlines, motions, and excludables.
Morgan and Lichtenstein were arrested successful February 2022 and were accused of laundering astir 100,000 BTC from a hack connected Bitfinex six years earlier.
Case continues to develop
CryptoSlate previously reported that the mates allegedly laundered 119,756 Bitcoin (BTC). The stolen funds were worthy adjacent to $3.6 cardinal astatine the clip of the seizure, though they were worthy $4.5 cardinal erstwhile the communicative emerged successful February 2022. The supra magnitude is erstwhile again worthy $3.6 cardinal astatine existent marketplace prices.
Prosecutors charged the couple with conspiracy to perpetrate wealth laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to defraud the United States. Those charges transportation imaginable maximum sentences of 20 years successful situation and 5 years successful prison, respectively.
Reuters said successful its existent study that prosecutors present purpose to unit Morgan and Lichtenstein to forfeit assets worthy astir $3 billion, based connected the existent spot prices of assorted cryptocurrencies. Incidentally, the demanded assets see not conscionable crypto, but besides golden coins “excavated and recovered by instrumentality enforcement” successful California.
Morgan and Lichtenstein maintained a nationalist presence. Morgan had an online rap-hop vocation nether the alias “Razzlekhan.” Lichtenstein acted arsenic a serial entrepreneur and besides ran a YouTube transmission arsenic an amateur magician.
The couple’s off-beat idiosyncratic beingness and alleged high-profile crimes person led Netflix to denote a bid based connected the 2 individauls. That bid has not yet been released.
The station American mates accused of laundering stolen Bitfinex funds put plea deal appeared archetypal connected CryptoSlate.
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