On Tuesday, the Justice Department stated that it has confiscated at least $3.6 billion worth of Bitcoin that was part of the cryptocurrencies stolen in an attack on Bitfinex, a cryptocurrency exchange in 2016.
This is currently the largest crypto seizure that has been made by the Department of Justice based on the value of Bitcoin that was confiscated. In 2016, Bitfinex was hacked, and Bitcoin worth over $4.5 billion was stolen from the exchange.
With respect to the confiscation, two suspects were allegedly trying to launder the proceeds of the 2016 hack. The Department of Justice announced that Ilya Lichtenstein, 34, and his wife, Heather Morgan, 31, will be charged to the court concerning the incident.
According to the Department of Justice, the couple allegedly attempted to launder the 119,754 stolen Bitcoin linked to the Bitfinex attack. To do this, they carried out thousands of unauthorized transactions, and they can be linked to a digital wallet that Lichtenstein controlled.
The Deputy Attorney General, Lisa O. Monaco stated,
“Today’s arrests, and the department’s largest financial seizure ever, show that cryptocurrency is not a safe haven for criminals. In a futile effort to maintain digital anonymity, the defendants laundered stolen funds through a labyrinth of cryptocurrency transactions. Thanks to the meticulous work of law enforcement, the department once again showed how it can and will follow the money, no matter what form it takes.”
Assistant Attorney General, Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, announced,
“Today, federal law enforcement demonstrates once again that we can follow the money through the blockchain, and that we will not allow cryptocurrency to be a safe haven for money laundering or a zone of lawlessness within our financial system. The arrests today show that we will take a firm stand against those who allegedly tried to use virtual currencies for criminal purposes.”
Lichtenstein transferred over twenty-five thousand stolen Bitcoins from the wallet in the past five years, while laundering them in a complex process. Some part of it was deposited in accounts belonging to Lichtenstein and Morgan.
The remaining loot was kept in the wallet that originally held the stolen Bitcoin after the attack.
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