The US Department of Justice announced that law enforcement authorities seized cryptocurrencies worth billions that are linked to the Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange hack that occurred in 2016.
See also: Wormhole cryptocurrency: $326 million stolen after breach
A couple from Manhattan, Ilya Lichtenstein, 34, and his wife, Heather Morgan, 31, were arrested today for alleged involvement in a conspiracy to launder the stolen crypto.
In 2016, the 119.756 bitcoins that were stolen during the attack were worth almost 78 million dollars and now their value is about 4,5 billion dollars.
DOJ officials said the funds were recovered after IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) special agents executed “court-authorized search warrants of online accounts controlled by Lichtenstein and Morgan” to seize files with the private keys needed to access the wallets containing the stolen Bitfinex bitcoins.
Lichtenstein and Morgan were charged today with conspiracy to launder dirty money, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years, and conspiracy to defraud the United States, which also carries a maximum sentence of five years.
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The largest cryptocurrency seizure ever
According to chief Jim Lee of IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), this was the largest cryptocurrency seizure ever by the DOJ.
The defendants allegedly attempted to launder crypto by making deposits on the dark web marketplace AlphaBay, as well as purchasing gift cards from Uber, Hotels.com, PlayStation, and Walmart.
Court documents show that the couple is alleged to have used advanced laundering techniques, such as:
- use of virtual identities to create online accounts;
- the use of computer programs to automate transactions, a laundering technique that allows many transactions to be carried out in a short period of time;
- the deposit of stolen funds into accounts at various virtual currency exchanges and darknet markets and subsequently the withdrawal of the funds, a fact that obscures the transaction history trail by breaking the flow of funds.
- conversion of bitcoin into other forms of virtual currency, including the virtual currency with enhanced anonymity (AEC), in a practice known as «chain hopping»·
- and using US -based business accounts to legitimize their banking activity.
See also: Cryptocurrency token rug pulls: Hackers hijack smart contracts
More information about how the stolen Bitfinex funds were traced and transferred to accounts linked to the two defendants can be found in this statement released by the DOJ.
Information source: bleepingcomputer.com
