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By Luc Cohen
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A New York expertise entrepreneur pleaded responsible on Thursday to laundering funds stolen from Bitfinex, one of many world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, together with his spouse, an internet rapper, anticipated to observe.
Ilya Lichtenstein entered his plea at a listening to earlier than U.S. District Choose Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in Washington.
His spouse Heather Morgan, who used the hip-hop alias “Razzklekhan” to advertise her music, is anticipated to enter her personal plea in a while Thursday. She faces an extra rely of conspiracy to defraud the US.
Lichtenstein and Morgan had been arrested in February 2022on prices of laundering greater than 100,000 bitcoin that was stolen after a hacker attacked Bitfinex in 2016.
The bitcoin was value $71 million on the time, however had appreciated to greater than $4.5 billion by the point of their arrests.
Deputy Legal professional Basic Lisa Monaco mentioned on the time that the $3.6 billion in property that prosecutors recovered from the couple was the largest monetary seizure in U.S. Division of Justice historical past.
Prosecutors need the couple to forfeit $3 billion. A docket entry in late July reveals that Lichtenstein and Morgan reached their plea cope with the U.S. Legal professional’s workplace in Washington.