🔥 Hacker who stole $4.5 billion in Bitcoin becomes key witness in US government money laundering case
100X community news:
On February 28, Bloomberg reported that Ilya Lichtenstein, a hacker who stole billions of dollars from the cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex, targeted the currency mixing service Bitcoin Fog at a meeting in Washington on Tuesday. A cooperating U.S. government witness at the trial revealed details of how he carried out one of the largest Bitcoin thefts in history. Lichtenstein revealed that he had access to Bitfinex systems for months and hacked into personal accounts at other crypto exchanges such as Coinbase and Kraken. Last year, he and his wife, a social media rapper who calls herself the "Wall Street Crocodile," pleaded guilty to money laundering offenses related to the hacking. Lichtenstein testified in court that he used a service called Bitcoin Fog as many as ten times to launder money. U.S. prosecutors charged Roman Sterlingov with operating the coin-mixing service that allegedly received tens of millions of dollars from darknet markets that trafficked illegal drugs. Lichtenstein's testimony further sheds light on the motivations behind the 2016 Bitfinex hack and how he managed to launder millions of dollars. The U.S. government alleges that the pair conspired to launder $4.5 billion in stolen Bitcoins at the time, $3.6 billion of which the government had already seized, making it the largest financial seizure in history. Lichtenstein also revealed that he decided to hack the exchange because of the difficulties his San Francisco-based tech startup was facing. "My business was in trouble and I was very tired," he told the jury.
