The U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday that it has unveiled its largest cryptocurrency theft so far, grabbing $ 3.6 billion bitcoin tied to the 2016 Bitfinex digital currency trading. A couple’s team has been arrested for money laundering.
Ilya “Dutch” Lichtenstein, 34, and his wife Heather Morgan Morgan, 31, were arrested in Manhattan on Tuesday morning. They spend illegal money on items ranging from gold and non-fungible tokens to a $ 500 Walmart gift card, according to prosecutors.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said it was a seizure of funds from the Department of Justice, emphasizing that cryptocurrency is not a safe haven for criminals.
Among the charges against Lichtenstein and Morgan were conspiracy to defraud the United States and money laundering. The case is being re-assigned to Washington DC.
U.S. Magistrate Debra Freeman imposed Lichtenstein’s $ 5 million bond and Morgan’s $ 3 million bond when they first appeared in federal court on Tuesday. He asked their parents to set up their homes as security for their return to court.
The couple is accused of conspiring to track down 119,754 bitcoins stolen from Bitfinex after an attacker launched more than 2,000 unauthorized transactions. The value of the transaction at that time was $ 71 million in bitcoin, but as the value of the currency has grown, it is now over $ 4.5 billion.
An important clue is likely to be found in the 2017 explosion of the digital underground digital market used to generate additional funding. U.S. officials said some of the money was transferred to AlphaBay, a black version of eBay that allows for the sale of anything.
Elliptic, a company that tracks digital currency, says it is understandable that when AlphaBay closed, it allowed authorities to access its internal transaction log, which was linked to a cryptocurrency account on behalf of Lichtenstein.