Ilya Lichtenstein, a hacker behind considered one of historical past’s greatest cryptocurrency thefts, acquired a five-year jail sentence.
In 2016, he orchestrated the theft of 119,754 Bitcoin from Bitfinex by authorizing 2,000 fraudulent transactions. He later teamed up along with his spouse, Heather Morgan, to launder the stolen funds.
$10 Billion in Stolen Bitcoin
The couple pleaded responsible on August 3, 2023, to conspiracy fees tied to cash laundering. The courtroom will later sentence Morgan on November 18, and Lichtenstein will serve three further years of supervised launch after his imprisonment.
The Bitfinex heist, initially valued at $71 million, grew to become one of many largest cybercrimes ever as Bitcoin’s worth skyrocketed. To crack the case, the IRS-Felony Investigations unit, FBI, Homeland Safety, and blockchain forensics agency TRM Labs labored collectively for seven years.
“Today he told a jury that he had access to Bitfinex’s systems for several months, and also hacked accounts at other exchanges, for example Coinbase and Kraken. Some of the stolen money went to buy non-fungible tokens, gold, Walmart gift cards, shrooms and LSD,” one X person chimed in.
Lichtenstein’s methodology, which used darknet markets, numerous exchanges, coin mixers, and different strategies, allowed him to cowl his tracks for years efficiently. It was solely in 2022 that authorities had been ultimately capable of seize a single pockets with 94,000 BTC, which prompted extra investigations that exposed gold cash, bodily gold, and USD.
Some have dubbed him a “mastermind hacker” for his subtle course of. In March, producers introduced a Hollywood movie about Lichtenstein and Morgan is in manufacturing.
Bloomberg stories that the US authorities achieved its largest cryptocurrency restoration thus far by seizing Lichtenstein’s stolen property. Regardless of dealing with a possible 25-year sentence, he later acquired important leniency for cooperating with authorities and testifying in different cryptocurrency circumstances, together with Bitcoin Fog.
Bitcoin Fog and Its Position within the Heist
It was solely on November 8 that Roman Sterlingov, the founding father of Bitcoin Fog, was sentenced to 12 years for working the identical software that enabled Lichtenstein to tug off the Bitfinex heist.
Bitcoin Fog, a darknet coin mixer, performed a vital function in Lichtenstein’s scheme to launder funds. Coin mixers obscure transaction trails by mixing a number of transfers, making them laborious to hint. A fantastic instance of that is Twister Money.
The DoJ press launch states that Sterlingov knowingly used his software to assist launder funds from numerous unlawful actions.
“As proven at trial, Roman Sterlingov created and used an online tool to process hundreds of millions in illegal transactions, enabling darknet drug dealers and those who sell child sexual abuse material, to operate. Today’s sentence sends an unmistakable message: those who help criminals with online payments for their illegal activities will face serious penalties,” stated US Legal professional Graves.
Sterlingov was sentenced to jail and ordered to pay a fantastic of $395.6 million. He additionally had to surrender seized cryptocurrencies and money price about $1.76 million. Moreover, he misplaced possession of his Bitcoin Fog pockets, which holds round 1,345 Bitcoins valued at over $103 million.
Bitcoin Fog operated for ten years, processing over 1.2 million Bitcoin transactions price about $400 million. Most funds originated from darknet markets and supported numerous unlawful actions.
In March 2024, a jury convicted Sterlingov of cash laundering, conspiracy, and working an unlicensed cash transmission enterprise after a month-long trial.
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