In the largest ever crypto seizure, US seizes 94k stolen Bitcoins worth $3.6 billion

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has seized and recovered over 94,000 Bitcoins worth $3.6 billion stolen from crypto exchange Bitfinex by a US-based entrepreneur couple in 2016. This is the largest-ever cryptocurrency seizure.

Ilya Lichtenstein, 34, and Heather Morgan, 31, are accused of conspiring to launder money and defraud the US government, and if convicted, they may face up to 25 years in jail.

They were arrested in Manhattan on suspicion of conspiring to launder cryptocurrency stolen from the 2016 hack of Bitfinex, a virtual currency exchange with a market capitalization of $4.5 billion.

"The arrests, and the department's largest financial seizure ever, show that cryptocurrency is not a safe haven for criminals," said Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco.

"In a futile effort to maintain digital anonymity, the defendants laundered stolen funds through a labyrinth of cryptocurrency transactions," Monaco said in a statement late on Tuesday.

According to court records, Lichtenstein and Morgan reportedly plotted to launder the earnings of 119,754 bitcoin stolen from Bitfinex's platform after a hacker broke into the company's servers and initiated over 2,000 unauthorised transactions.

Approximately 25,000 of the stolen Bitcoins were transferred out of Lichtenstein's wallet over the last five years via a convoluted money laundering scheme that culminated in part of the stolen cash being placed into financial accounts controlled by Lichtenstein and Morgan.

According to the Department of Justice, the remaining stolen funds, totaling over 94,000 bitcoin, remained in the wallet used to receive and hold the criminal gains from the breach.

"Federal law enforcement demonstrates once again that we can follow money through the blockchain, and that we will not allow cryptocurrency to be a safe haven for money laundering or a zone of lawlessness within our financial system," said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr.

The couple faces charges of money laundering conspiracy, which has a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and conspiracy to defraud the United States, which carries a maximum term of five years in jail.