The man behind a hack on Bitfinex that saw nearly 120,000 stolen from the cryptocurrency exchange has been sentenced to five years in prison.
Ilya Lichtenstein was sentenced for his involvement in a money laundering conspiracy arising from the 2016 hack and theft.
According to court documents, Lichtenstein hacked into Bitfinex’s network and authorised more than 2000 transactions transferring 119,754 bitcoin to a cryptocurrency wallet in his control. At the time, the crypto was worth around $70 million although its value has since soared to $10.5 billion.
After taking the crypto and covering his tracks, Lichtenstein enlisted the help of his wife, Heather Morgan, in laundering the stolen funds.
They did this by using fictitious identities to set up online accounts; using computer programs to automate transactions; depositing the stolen funds into accounts at darknet markets and crypto exchanges and then withdrawing them; converting bitcoin to other forms of crypto; depositing a portion into crypto mixing services; using US-based business accounts to legitimise their banking activity; and exchanging a portion of the funds into gold coins.
Last August, Lichtenstein and Morgan both pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Morgan is scheduled to be sentenced later this month.