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A hacker has been sentenced to 5 years in a US jail for laundering the proceeds of one of many largest ever cryptocurrency thefts.
Ilya Lichtenstein pleaded responsible final 12 months to hacking into the Bitfinex cryptocurrency alternate in 2016 and stealing nearly 120,000 bitcoin.
He laundered the stolen cryptocurrency with the assistance of his spouse Heather Morgan, who used the alias Razzlekhan to advertise her hip hop music.
At the time of the theft, the bitcoin was value round $70m (£55.3m), however had risen in worth to greater than $4.5bn by the point of they have been arrested.
The $3.6bn value of property recovered within the case was the largest monetary seizure within the DOJ’s historical past, deputy lawyer General Lisa Monaco mentioned on the time.
“It’s important to send a message that you can’t commit these crimes with impunity, that there are consequences to them,” district choose Colleen Kollar-Kotelly mentioned.
Lichtenstein, who has been in jail since his arrest in February 2022, expressed regret for his actions.
He additionally mentioned that he hopes to use his expertise to battle cybercrime after serving his sentence.
Morgan additionally pleaded responsible final 12 months to 1 depend of conspiracy to commit cash laundering. She is because of be sentenced on 18 November.
According courtroom paperwork, Lichtenstein used superior hacking instruments and methods to hack into Bitfinex.
Following the hack, he enlisted Morgan’s assist to launder the stolen funds.
They “employed numerous sophisticated laundering techniques”, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) said in a statement.
The strategies included utilizing fictitious identities, switching the funds into totally different cryptocurrencies and shopping for gold cash.
Lichtenstein, who was born in Russia however grew up within the US, would then meet couriers whereas on household journeys and transfer the laundered a reimbursement residence, prosecutors mentioned.
Morgan’s Razzlekhan persona went viral on social media when the case emerged.
Even because the couple tried to cowl up the hack, she printed dozens of expletive-filled music movies and rap songs filmed in areas round New York.
In her lyrics she known as herself a “bad-ass money maker” and “the crocodile of Wall Street”.
In articles printed in Forbes journal, Morgan additionally claimed to be a profitable know-how businesswoman, calling herself an “economist, serial entrepreneur, software investor and rapper”.
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