DOJ Secures Prison Sentence for Bitfinex Hacker

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Thursday that Ilya Lichtenstein has been sentenced to prison for his role in a major cryptocurrency laundering scheme linked to the 2016 Bitfinex hack.

A hacker who stole 120,000 bitcoins from cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex in 2016 and laundered the funds over several years has been sentenced to five years in a U.S. prison by the Department of Justice (DOJ).

The DOJ announced Thursday that Ilya Lichtenstein was sentenced for his role in the major cryptocurrency laundering scheme. The stolen bitcoins were valued at about $4.5 billion at the time of the theft.

Lichtenstein, a 35-year-old Russian national, pleaded guilty in August to conspiracy to commit money laundering. He admitted to using advanced hacking methods to infiltrate Bitfinex’s network and diverting bitcoins to his own accounts.

According to court records, Lichtenstein fraudulently authorized more than 2,000 transactions transferring 119,754 bitcoin from Bitfinex to a cryptocurrency wallet in his control. He then used the stolen credentials to illegally access the computers of the medical clinic and remove records that contained the sensitive personal information of more than 43,000 individuals, including names, addresses, birth dates, and social security numbers.

Lichtenstein later enlisted his wife, Heather Morgan, a 33-year-old U.S. citizen, to help launder the stolen funds through complex methods. Together, they reportedly used fake identities, automated transactions, and “chain hopping” to convert bitcoin into other cryptocurrencies. They also funneled money through darknet markets and cryptocurrency exchanges and used U.S.-based business accounts to make their activities appear legitimate.

Lichtenstein and Morgan were arrested in February 2023 in New York City. Both were initially charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the United States.

In addition to his prison sentence, Lichtenstein will serve three years of supervised release. Morgan is scheduled to be sentenced on November 18.

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