Back in 2016, the cryptocurrency exchange, Bitfinex fell prey to one of the biggest hacks in history. Several years after the attack, the people who orchestrated it were nabbed by the Department of Justice [DOJ] of the United States. The crypto community was rather dismayed as the identity of the perpetrators was revealed.
A whopping $72 million worth of Bitcoin was stolen from Bitfinex during the time of the attack. Both the exchange and the authorities were striving hard to unveil the ill-doers. Five years later, the DOJ nabbed Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan as they splurged the illegal money on gold as well as NFTs. While the overall hack accounted for a loss of $5.1 billion [current value], the authorities managed to seize about $3.6 billion from the couple.
The couple mostly moved dainty amounts of Bitcoin and left a large portion of the world’s largest crypto untethered. However, the movement of 25,000 BTC managed to catch the eye of the DOJ.
Pointing out how the crypto-verse was far from being a haven for criminals, Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco stated,
“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.”
Bitfinex hackers out on bail
The DOJ charged the couple with conspiracy to defraud the US as well as laundering conspiracy. Appearing at a New York court, both the hackers asserted their innocence. Despite the charges, the couple managed to steer away with multi-million dollar bonds. It can be noted that the duo wasn’t charged with carrying out the hack.
While the hackers were out, their identities surfaced all over Twitter.
Heather Morgan had a much more prominent social media presence than her husband. She claims to be a “comedic rapper” among other things like a writer and entrepreneur. Ironically, Morgan had worked for Forbes and even wrote an article titled, “Experts Share Tips To Protect Your Business From Cybercriminals.”
While perpetrators quite often maintain a low profile, Morgan posted an array of videos on TikTok under the username ‘realrazzlekhan’.
The community certainly celebrated this victory and congratulated Bitfinex. Paolo Ardoino, the CTO of the crypto exchange took to Twitter to thank the DOJ for their hard work.