The US Department of Justice has seized more than $3.6 billion in stolen bitcoin, which were linked to the 2016 Bitfinex hack
According to Arabiya Net, officials said they arrested Elijah Lichtenstein, 34, and his wife, Heather Morgan, 31. The couple is due to appear in their first federal court hearing at a later time.
Lisa Monaco, the deputy attorney general, said in a statement that it represented the agency's largest ever forfeiture.
Authorities accuse the pair of trying to launder the proceeds of 119,754 bitcoins that were stolen from Bitfinex after it hacked Bitfinex's systems and initiated more than 2,000 unauthorized transactions. Prosecutors allege that the transactions sent the stolen bitcoin to Liechtenstein's digital wallet.
Officials said they were able to seize more than 94,000 bitcoins, which were worth about $3.6 billion at the time of confiscation. Altogether, the total value of bitcoin stolen is currently estimated to be around $4.5 billion.
Today federal law enforcement is making it clear once again that we can track money through the blockchain and that we will not allow cryptocurrency to be a money laundering safe haven or an area of chaos within our financial system , according to Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite Jr in a statement.
The husband is charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and conspiracy to defraud the United States, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.< /p>
