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A pair of individuals charged with money laundering funds siphoned from the 2016 hacking of the crypto exchange Bitfinex have reportedly reached a plea agreement with U.S. authorities, as stated by an informed source.

In February 2022, Heather "Razzlekhan" Morgan and Ilya Lichtenstein, a married couple residing in New York, found themselves embroiled in a legal situation involving serious accusations of money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the U.S. In a recent court filing, the U.S. Attorney took decisive action by ordering the couple to surrender billions of dollars' worth of various cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, ether, stablecoins, as well as cash from their bank accounts. This forfeiture was imposed at the time of their conviction.

In February 2022, bail was granted to Morgan but denied to Lichtenstein by a judge, following the defense's argument that the case against her was weaker compared to him. The defense pointed out that the only evidence against Morgan was her alleged receipt of funds linked to the act, and emphasized that her health issues necessitated her release.

A plea deal would mark the end of one of the most sensational criminal cases in cryptocurrency history, a field that has been plagued by numerous scandals. The identity of the hacker behind the infamous Bitfinex breach, one of the largest heists ever recorded, remains shrouded in mystery. Adding a touch of comic relief to the affair were Morgan's quirky music videos. Interestingly, she managed to secure a new tech job while the case was still pending this year.

The potential duration of imprisonment for either defendant remains uncertain. In the previous year, both individuals were confronted with two counts of conspiracy, carrying a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison for each charge. As per court records, they have been instructed to attend an arraignment and plea hearing on August 3rd before U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in Washington.

“It was the object of the conspiracy for the defendants, MORGAN and Lichtenstein, to unlawfully enrich themselves by laundering the proceeds of the hack and scheme to defraud the victim virtual currency exchange, Bitfinex and to prevent detection of the laundering activity," the new filing said.

Neither Morgan nor Lichtenstein's lawyers responded promptly to CoinDesk's request for comment.

Morgan and her husband faced allegations of laundering approximately 25,000 BTC, along with being in possession of an additional 94,000 BTC that had been stolen – valued at around $3.5 billion at the time of the report – during the Bitfinex hack in 2016.

In early 2022, during the arrest of the couple, federal officials successfully confiscated 94,000 BTC. At that time, the Department of Justice (DOJ) accused the duo of conspiring to launder the proceeds and strongly suggested, without explicitly stating, that they might have been the original hacker(s). Over the course of the past five years, a significant portion of the remaining 25,000 BTC was further dispersed through different wallets and darknet marketplaces.

The couple and their legal representatives had initially planned to contest the accusations, claiming numerous shortcomings in the Government's evidence and unsupported, unsubstantiated assumptions, as indicated in prior documents. However, the first indications of a plea agreement emerged in March 2022, when the prosecutors informed the court about their ongoing discussions with Morgan's attorneys regarding a potential "settlement" for her case, which would bypass the need for a trial.

In February 2022, prosecutors stated that Liechtenstein, a citizen with dual U.S.-Russian nationality, had renewed his Russian passport. The individual, accompanied by another person, traveled to Ukraine in 2019. During their trip, they were accused of allegedly creating and updating multiple files in online accounts that were linked to money laundering activities. However, the defense countered these allegations, claiming that the trip was simply a vacation.

CoinDesk's request for comment was left unanswered by the Department of Justice at the time of reporting.

Source Coindesk