Tech Entrepreneur Sentenced for Notorious Bitfinex Theft

A New York entrepreneur, Ilya Lichtenstein, was sentenced to 5 years in prison for laundering bitcoin stolen from the Bitfinex exchange. He and his wife, Heather Morgan, were implicated in the 2016 theft of 120,000 bitcoin. The U.S. government recovered $3.6 billion, its largest financial seizure.

A New York technology entrepreneur, Ilya Lichtenstein, has been sentenced to five years in prison. This follows his guilty plea last year for laundering cryptocurrency funds stolen from Bitfinex, one of the largest exchanges globally. His partner in crime was none other than his wife, Heather Morgan.

Lichtenstein, 35, employed sophisticated hacking techniques to infiltrate Bitfinex's system in 2016, resulting in the theft of approximately 120,000 bitcoin. At the time of their arrest in February 2022, the stolen currency had surged in value from $71 million to over $4.5 billion. The couple's high-profile arrest marked a major breakthrough for the U.S. Justice Department.

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced that the $3.6 billion in assets recovered from Lichtenstein and Morgan constituted the largest financial seizure in the department's history. Morgan, who famously moonlighted as a hip-hop artist under the alias 'Razzlekhan,' also pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy. Her sentencing is slated for November 18, with Lichtenstein facing an additional three years of supervised release.

(With inputs from agencies.)