A plea deal has been agreed to by a couple accused of laundering funds drained from crypto exchange Bitfinex in the 2016 hack, according to a person familiar with the matter. Heather “Razzlekhan” Morgan and Ilya Lichtenstein, married New York residents who were arrested in February 2022, had faced allegations of money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the U.S. The U.S. Attorney has ordered the couple to forfeit billions of dollars worth of bitcoin, ether, stablecoins, and other cryptocurrencies, in addition to cash from their bank accounts, at the time of conviction, according to a court filing.
The plea deal would bring to a close one of the most dramatic criminal cases in the history of cryptocurrency, a field that has seen more than its share of scandals. Morgan and her husband were accused of laundering roughly 25,000 BTC and had access to another 94,000 BTC—worth roughly $3.5 billion at the time of publication—stolen during an exploit of Bitfinex in 2016. Federal officials were able to seize the 94,000 BTC when the couple were arrested in early 2022.
It is unclear how much time either defendant could serve behind bars. Last year, the pair faced two conspiracy charges each that posed a maximum sentence of 25 years. They have been ordered to appear for an arraignment and plea hearing on Aug. 3 before U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in Washington, according to court records.
“It was the object of the conspiracy for the defendants, Morgan and Lichtenstein, to unlawfully enrich themselves by laundering the proceeds of the hack and scheme to defraud the victim virtual currency exchange, Bitfinex, and to prevent detection of the laundering activity,” the new filing said.
The Department of Justice didn’t immediately respond to CoinDesk’s request for comment. Lawyers for neither Morgan nor Lichtenstein didn’t immediately respond to CoinDesk’s request for comment either.