2 days ago
Ilya Lichtenstein, who pled guilty past twelvemonth to charges related to the 2016 theft of 120,000 bitcoin from Bitfinex, has made his archetypal nationalist connection since his 2022 arrest.
In a five-minute video posted to X (formerly Twitter) connected Thursday, Lichtenstein reiterated that helium was the hacker and that helium acted alone, denying speculation successful a Netflix documentary that his begetter (or, perhaps, immoderate spy agency, possibly Russia's) mightiness person been progressive successful the theft.
“My dada is nary hacker, helium doesn’t adjacent cognize however to usage Instagram,” said Lichtenstein, who was sentenced to five years successful prison for conspiracy to perpetrate wealth laundering, including the clip helium was incarcerated aft the apprehension portion the lawsuit was pending.
"I connection my sincerest apologies to Bitfinex for each the accent that I person caused them," helium said successful the video, recorded from situation during a distant sojourn with his wife. "I knew what I was doing was incorrect and I did it anyhow due to the fact that I didn't attraction ... I look backmost astatine the idiosyncratic I was then, and I hatred myself. I hatred myself."
In the video, Lichtenstein besides provided an update connected restitution for the funds helium stole from Bitfinex.
"For the past 3 years, I person worked hard to relationship for and instrumentality each assets down to the past satoshi, arsenic required by my plea agreement, and I volition proceed to bash so," Lichtenstein said, showing bags nether his eyes. A restitution proceeding is set for February to find whether they should beryllium distributed to Bitfinex oregon to its customers who were affected by the hack.
Razzlekhan speaks
Lichtenstein's wife, Heather "Razzlekhan" Morgan, pled guilty to 1 number of wealth laundering conspiracy and 1 number of conspiracy to defraud the United States.
Prosecutors said she became alert of the hack lone years aft the fact and was enlisted by her husband to launder the stolen bitcoin.
"In galore ways, my woman ... is conscionable different unfortunate of my atrocious decisions," Lichtenstein said successful the video.
Last month, Morgan was sentenced to 18 months successful prison for her supporting relation successful Lichtenstein's crimes.
"It’s bully to statesman to person the nationalist grounds surrounding our lawsuit acceptable straight," Morgan told CoinDesk, referring to the video her hubby released. "You would deliberation that would person happened aft our sentencing memos got filed, but that truly hasn’t been the case. There are truthful galore myths that I look guardant to debunking erstwhile we archer the existent story.”
Best known for her goofy rap videos, Morgan precocious began selling custom videos for $125 a popular connected Cameo, a benignant of non-pornographic mentation of Onlyfans. Her situation condemnation could statesman arsenic soon arsenic adjacent month.
"Despite everything you’ve read, my Razzlekhan persona ne'er had thing to bash with this case, too the authorities mentioning it successful their charging documents. I created Razzlekhan years earlier I ever knew my hubby had hacked Bitfinex," Morgan told CoinDesk.
“While our transgression lawsuit was open, I was incapable to talk publically oregon archer my story," she said. "This besides meant I could not people immoderate articles oregon merchandise immoderate caller artworks oregon songs the past 3 years. Now that the lawsuit is over, I look guardant to freely expressing myself creatively again. ... I americium anxious to archer the communicative of what truly happened.”
Takes 1 to drawback one
Atoning for his misdeeds successful court, Lichtenstein said that aft helium serves his clip helium plans to pursue a vocation warring cybercrime.
In Tuesday's video, Lichtenstein reiterated that pledge.
"When I americium released from situation ... I program to dedicate myself to moving successful the cybersecurity industry," Lichtenstein said. "I cognize the cyber threats that we look and I cognize however to halt them."
The bitcoin stolen successful the 2016 hack was worthy $70 cardinal astatine the clip and astir $12 cardinal today.
The Netflix documentary leaves viewers with the content that a important information of the stolen funds stay missing, but according to Lichtenstein's lawyer, this is not the case.
“With important assistance from Mr. Lichtenstein, the authorities has recovered astir each of the assets stolen during the 2016 Bitfinex hack," the lawyer, Samson Enzer of Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP, told CoinDesk. "In total, astir 114,601 BTC (representing 96% of the astir 119,754 BTC taken successful the hack) were recovered, arsenic good arsenic 29 further assets with important value.”
The U.S. Department of Justice did not respond by property clip to CoinDesk's enquiry astir the percent of stolen funds that were recovered.
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