A Russian hacker received five years in prison in the United States for stealing 120,000 bitcoins

According to US authorities, Liechtenstein illegally penetrated Bitfinex’s internal network, from which he withdrew 119,754 bitcoins and carried out more than 2,000 transactions. At the time of the theft, the coins were worth about $75 million. Before their arrest in 2022, Lichtenstein and Morgan managed to launder about a fifth of this amount in various ways, Bloomberg writes.

To legalize the stolen funds, the couple used fake documents, created crypto wallets and accounts on exchanges, withdrew coins to wallets on darknet services, repeatedly converted bitcoins into other cryptocurrencies, and also exchanged them for gold and supermarket gift cards, reported the attorney general’s office. saying.

Speaking at the meeting, Liechtenstein said he regretted having used his skills for criminal activities and was willing to “take full responsibility for his actions,” the Associated Press reports. The hacker also asked the judge not to sentence his wife to prison, stressing that she participated in money laundering only on his initiative.

Morgan and Lichtenstein were arrested after a six-year investigation involving cybersecurity experts from the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI, German police, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service’s cyber unit, and the U.S. Department of Investigation. of National Security of the United States.

At a hearing in August 2023, the couple pleaded guilty to money laundering and conspiracy to defraud. The 20-year prison sentence Liechtenstein faced on these charges was reduced thanks to close cooperation with the investigation, Bloomberg notes. At the time of the couple’s arrest, law enforcement officials were able to return about two-thirds of the stolen bitcoins.

According to Bloomberg, the Liechtenstein parents moved to the United States from Russia with their son for fear of being persecuted for religious reasons. Educated at the University of Wisconsin, Lichtenstein worked as an entrepreneur in Internet marketing, seed investing, and programming. His wife graduated from UC Davis and has dabbled in fashion design, rap music (under the name Razzlekhan), and IT entrepreneurship.