A Washington D.C., court sentenced Heather Morgan to 18 months in prison for her role in laundering money tied to the 2016 Bitfinex hack. 

Morgan, also known by her rap persona “Razzlekhan,” pleaded guilty in August to conspiracy charges related to money laundering and defrauding the US government.

Both Perpetrators in the Bitfinex Hack are Now Behind Bars

District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly delivered the sentence on Morgan’s trial earlier today November 18. She was arrested back in 2022 with her husband in Manhattan. When the trial began, Morgan faced at least five years on multiple charges of money laundering and conspiracy. 

However, she was granted a reduced sentence earlier today because of her extensive assistance to the prosecutors. 

“The DoJ has new legal theory for catching money launderers: charging them with ‘a conspiracy to defraud FinCEN.’ And it was first used in the case against crypto hackers Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan,” wrote financial historian John Paul Koning on X (formerly Twitter)

Morgan’s husband, Ilya Lichtenstein, masterminded the theft of 119,754 Bitcoin, valued at nearly $10 billion at today’s price. While Morgan didn’t participate in the Bitfinex hack, she helped Lichtenstein conceal the stolen crypto.  

Prosecutors described how the couple used fake identities, small incremental transfers, and multiple crypto exchanges to obscure the funds’ origins. They also bought NFTs, gold, and gift cards with the stolen Bitcoin from Bitfinex.  

According to Bloomberg Go to Source to See Full Article
Author: Mohammad Shahid