Posted on 02/08/2022 12:44:45 PM PST by dennisw
Ilya Lichtenstein and his wife Heather Morgan are accused of laundering the proceeds of 119,754 bitcoin that were stolen from Bitfinex's platform in 2016.
The Department of Justice announced the seizure of more than $3.6 billion in cryptocurrency that was stolen during an attack on the Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange in August 2016.
The DOJ also said it arrested 34-year-old Ilya Lichtenstein and his 31-year-old wife Heather Morgan for their role in attempting to launder 119,754 bitcoin that were stolen during the attack on the Hong Kong exchange. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco called the seizure the "department's largest financial seizure ever."
In total, about $4.5 billion was stolen from the exchange, and two brothers, Eli and Assaf Gigi, were arrested by Israeli authorities in 2019 for their involvement in the attack.
But on Tuesday, the Justice Department said Lichtenstein and Morgan -- both of whom were very active on social media -- initiated more than 2,000 unauthorized transactions as they tried to launder the 119,754 bitcoin stolen from Bitfinex.
"Those unauthorized transactions sent the stolen bitcoin to a digital wallet under Lichtenstein's control. Over the last five years, approximately 25,000 of those stolen bitcoin were transferred out of Lichtenstein's wallet via a complicated money laundering process that ended with some of the stolen funds being deposited into financial accounts controlled by Lichtenstein and Morgan," the DOJ explained.
"The remainder of the stolen funds, comprising more than 94,000 bitcoin, remained in the wallet used to receive and store the illegal proceeds from the hack. After the execution of court-authorized search warrants of online accounts controlled by Lichtenstein and Morgan, special agents obtained access to files within an online account controlled by Lichtenstein. Those files contained the private keys required to access the digital wallet that directly received the funds stolen from Bitfinex, and allowed special agents to lawfully seize and recover more than 94,000 bitcoin that had been stolen from Bitfinex. The recovered bitcoin was valued at over $3.6 billion at the time of seizure."
Lawyers for the government went on to accuse Lichtenstein and Morgan of using fake identities to open online accounts and deploying devices to automate transactions -- in addition to a spate of other laundering techniques. The stolen funds were also deposited into several different virtual currency exchanges and darknet markets in an attempt to wash the currency, something the DOJ called "chain hopping."
The bitcoin was converted into other currency that shielded their identity, and US bank accounts were used to make their transactions look legitimate.
"In a methodical and calculated scheme, the defendants allegedly laundered and disguised their vast fortune," said Chief Jim Lee of IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI).
(EXCERPT)
The recovered money will be used to buy Hunter Biden’s art.
In 2016 Bitcoin was worth about $415 ....
Dont worry bitcoin fanboys, this doesnt mean you have to worry about the FEDs tracing your dope buys. (Just kidding. Worry)
“ In 2016 Bitcoin was worth about $415 ....”
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Ah ha! Petty theft… release them on $500 bail.
Gee, I wonder how they did all of this very sophisticated monitoring and tracking... :) Always gives me big smile when I read crypto types saying it gives them privacy.
“Lawyers for the government went on to accuse Lichtenstein and Morgan of using fake identities to open online accounts and deploying devices to automate transactions — in addition to a spate of other laundering techniques. The stolen funds were also deposited into several different virtual currency exchanges and darknet markets in an attempt to wash the currency, something the DOJ called “chain hopping.”
The bitcoin was converted into other currency that shielded their identity, and US bank accounts were used to make their transactions look legitimate. “
119k coins means it was a 54mill theft.
I’d like to read the whole story. The scam. How they laundered that much money. How they got caught.
After the fact by accessing the wallet histories, most likely. The criminals are idiots who had their wallet KEYS in the cloud where they could be seized by order of a court.
I have been under audit for crypto trades. (It’s very amicable and I am not a scofflaw). Trust me…the Fed’s have learned a lot about how to track crypto. Anyone thinking they are going avoid taxes on crypto sales…they are nuts.
I had a debate with them today about how many decimal places things should be counted. Bitcoin is 8. They want to see things to 12. It’s maddening.
I wondered where I left those bitcoins.
Just yesterday I heard a crypto analyst explain how the US Dollar is the most popular form of payment for people involved in criminal activities.
He went on to say that it would be a very stupid criminal nowadays to take/make payment in Bitcoin or crypto.
The guy looks like a total nerd. There is a photo of the two at this site:
” He went on to say that it would be a very stupid criminal nowadays to take/make payment in Bitcoin or crypto.”
indeed ... looks like bitcoin and the like are WAY more trackable than bags and boxes of hundred dollar bills ...
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