Legal records and announcements from the U.S. Department of Justice

Ilya Lichtenstein Sentenced to Five Years for Laundering $10.4B in Bitfinex Funds

Nov 15, 2024, 03:47 AM

Ilya Lichtenstein, the mastermind behind the 2016 Bitfinex hack, has been sentenced to five years in prison for laundering stolen Bitcoin. Lichtenstein, along with his wife Heather Morgan, orchestrated the theft of approximately 119,754 BTC, valued at around $10.4 billion today. The U.S. Department of Justice tracked down the stolen funds, and Lichtenstein was found guilty of laundering a significant portion of the cryptocurrency. He laundered only 25,111 BTC before being caught. Morgan, also known as Razzlekhan, is scheduled to be sentenced on November 18. Lichtenstein's sentence equates to 60 months in prison.