The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has undertaken a seizure of $3.6bn in cryptocurrency in what is being described as its largest-ever financial seizure.
According to Security Week, alongside the bust there was the arrest of a couple accused of conspiring to launder billions of dollars in cryptocurrency stolen from the hack of virtual currency exchange Bitfinex six years ago, a hack which resulted in over 2,000 unauthorised transactions.
Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan were arrested and accused of using sophisticated techniques to launder the stolen money and hide the transactions. They both face federal charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the United States.
The couple were not charged in the Bitfinex breach, however they received stolen bitcoin in a digital wallet they controlled and used money laundering techniques to hide their activities and the movement of the money.
Prosecutors also highlighted that millions of dollars in transactions were cashed out through bitcoin ATMs and used to purchase gold and NFTs.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said, “Today’s arrests, and the Department’s largest financial seizure ever, show that cryptocurrency is not a safe haven for criminals. In a futile effort to maintain digital anonymity, the defendants laundered stolen funds through a labyrinth of cryptocurrency transactions. Thanks to the meticulous work of law enforcement, the department once again showed how it can and will follow the money, no matter the form it takes.”
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