US seizes record US$3.6 billion in bitcoin stolen from Hong Kong Bitfinex exchange
- Ilya Lichtenstein and wife Heather Morgan were arrested in New York for allegedly seeking to launder the proceeds of 2016 Bitfinex hack
- Pair face 20 years in prison for money laundering charges, possibly additional sentence of up to five years for conspiracy to defraud the US
The US Justice Department announced on Tuesday it had recovered a record sum of more than 94,000 bitcoin – currently valued at US$3.6 billion – stolen from a Hong Kong virtual exchange in 2016.
A couple accused of seeking to launder the bitcoin were arrested in New York, the department said. Ilya Lichtenstein, 34, and his wife Heather Morgan, 31, appeared in federal court over the charges and were granted bail by the judge.
When the judge indicated she would set a bond, the government requested it be set at US$100 million, an amount one of the defence lawyers called “laughable”.
The judge set bail for Morgan at US$3 million and asked her parents to post their home as security. For Lichtenstein, bail was set at US$5 million.
Lichtenstein and Morgan face 20 years in prison for the money laundering charges. In addition, they could receive an additional sentence of up to five years for conspiracy to defraud the US, according to the Justice Department statement.
Lichtenstein and Morgan allegedly sought to launder the proceeds of 119,754 bitcoin – then valued at US$65 million – that were stolen during a 2016 hack of the virtual currency exchange Bitfinex.