Bitfinex Hacker’s Wife Razzlekhan Sentenced to 18 Months for Laundering

A Washington D.C., court sentenced Heather Morgan to 18 months in prison for her role in laundering money tied to the 2016 Bitfinex hack. 

Morgan, also known by her rap persona “Razzlekhan,” pleaded guilty in August to conspiracy charges related to money laundering and defrauding the US government.

Both Perpetrators in the Bitfinex Hack are Now Behind Bars

District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly delivered the sentence on Morgan’s trial earlier today November 18. She was arrested back in 2022 with her husband in Manhattan. When the trial began, Morgan faced at least five years on multiple charges of money laundering and conspiracy. 

However, she was granted a reduced sentence earlier today because of her extensive assistance to the prosecutors. 

“The DoJ has new legal theory for catching money launderers: charging them with ‘a conspiracy to defraud FinCEN.’ And it was first used in the case against crypto hackers Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan,” wrote financial historian John Paul Koning on X (formerly Twitter)

Morgan’s husband, Ilya Lichtenstein, masterminded the theft of 119,754 Bitcoin, valued at nearly $10 billion at today’s price. While Morgan didn’t participate in the Bitfinex hack, she helped Lichtenstein conceal the stolen crypto.  

Prosecutors described how the couple used fake identities, small incremental transfers, and multiple crypto exchanges to obscure the funds’ origins. They also bought NFTs, gold, and gift cards with the stolen Bitcoin from Bitfinex.  

According to Bloomberg reports, Morgan was able to only launder 21% of the stolen Bitcoin. She also made several transactions with the Bitfinex funds on the dark web to further conceal the trail.

Lichtenstein and Morgan in 2020. Source: Hether Morgan’s X account

Earlier this week, Lichtenstein was also sentenced to five years in prison. This was, however, far below his potential 20-year maximum, as he also cooperated significantly with the authorities. His cooperation and lack of prior criminal record apparently played a significant role in the reduced sentence.  

The 2016 Bitfinex hack remains one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts in history. Hollywood is set to dramatize the case in the upcoming film ‘Dutch & Razzlekhan’, starring Chloë Grace Moretz as Morgan. 

The movie will explore the duo’s transformation from aspiring entrepreneurs to convicted criminals, with Lewis Pullman and Ariana DeBose rounding out the cast.

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