The US authorities have arrested a couple in New York City for conspiring to launder $4.5 billion in stolen cryptocurrency after hacking the virtual currency exchange Birfinex, the Justice Department said on Tuesday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th February, 2022) The US authorities have arrested a couple in New York City for conspiring to launder $4.5 billion in stolen cryptocurrency after hacking the virtual Currency exchange Birfinex, the Justice Department said on Tuesday.
"Two individuals were arrested this morning in Manhattan for an alleged conspiracy to launder cryptocurrency that was stolen during the 2016 hack of Bitfinex, a virtual currency exchange, presently valued at approximately $4.5 billion," the Justice Department said in a press release.
Ilya Lichtenstein and his wife, Heather Morgan, were arrested for allegedly conspiring to launder nearly 120,000 bitcoin that were stolen from the Bitfinex platform during a hack, the release said.
Law enforcement recovered over 94,000 bitcoin, valued at more than $3.6 billion at the time of the seizure, the release also said.
Lichtenstein and Morgan are charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the United States, which carry a maximum sentence of 20 years and five years in prison, respectively, the release added.
The couple is scheduled to make their initial appearance at a Federal court in Manhattan at 3:00 p.m. Eastern, according to the release.
