Bitcoin Hacker Sentenced To 5 Years For Laundering Billions In Crypto Theft
In one of the most significant cryptocurrency crime cases to date, Ilya Lichtenstein, who orchestrated the theft of 120,000 bitcoin from Bitfinex in 2016, was sentenced to five years in prison.
The stolen Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), worth $71 million at the time, is now valued at over $7.6 billion.
What Happened: Lichtenstein’s elaborate laundering scheme, carried out with the assistance of his wife, Heather Morgan, has been described by authorities as one of the most sophisticated money-laundering operations ever encountered in the cryptocurrency space.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, delivering the sentence on Thursday, called the theft “meticulously planned” and emphasized the importance of accountability.
“It’s important to send a message that you can’t commit these crimes with impunity, that there are consequences to them,” she said.
The hack targeted Hong Kong-based exchange Bitfinex, …
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