Ilya “Dutch” Lichtenstein, a 35-year-old man from New York, has confessed to being the original hacker responsible for the 2016 cyberattack on cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex.
What Happened: The attack resulted in the theft of approximately $4.5 billion worth of Bitcoin BTC/USD.
Lichtenstein made this bombshell admission while pleading guilty to charges of laundering the stolen Bitcoin in a federal court in Washington, D.C, CNBC reported.
Coinciding with his plea, his wife, Heather Rhiannon Morgan, a 33-year-old aspiring rapper known as “Razzlekhan” and “The Crocodile of Wall Street,” also entered a guilty plea on charges of money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to defraud the United States government.
Details of the Case: Prior to Lichtenstein’s admission in court, the identity of the hacker behind the Bitfinex cyberattack had remained unknown to the public.
Lichtenstein now faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. He has been held without bond since his arrest, deemed a flight risk by the judge. Pending sentencing, Lichtenstein has agreed to cooperate with federal investigators. On the other hand, Morgan could face up to five years in prison.
The couple was arrested in February 2022, and at the time of their arrest, the Department of Justice (DOJ) had seized over 94,000 Bitcoin out of the more than 119,000 bitcoin stolen during the hack.
This seizure amounted to approximately $3.6 billion, making it the largest seizure in DOJ history. The DOJ further revealed that it had since seized an additional $475 million connected to the hack.
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Hacking Method and Money Laundering: According to the DOJ, Lichtenstein employed sophisticated hacking tools and techniques to gain access to Bitfinex’s network. Once inside the system, he fraudulently authorized over 2,000 transactions, resulting in the transfer of 119,754 Bitcoin to a cryptocurrency wallet under his control.
In an attempt to cover his tracks, Lichtenstein revisited Bitfinex’s network and deleted access credentials and log files that could have exposed his actions to law enforcement. Subsequently, he enlisted the assistance of his wife, Morgan, in laundering the stolen funds.
Price Action: At the time of writing, BTC BTC/USD was trading at $29,170.23, up 0.59% in the last 24 hours, according to Benzinga Pro.
Photo Courtesy: Shutterstock.com
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