Woman Involved In $4.5 Billion In Bitcoin Money Laundering Scheme Could See Plea Deal
A possible plea deal is being discussed between a federal prosecutor and lawyers for the woman accused of laundering $4.5 billion in stolen bitcoin with her husband.
The prosecutor said during the hearing in Washington, D.C., federal court Monday that a "resolution" could be settled which would not require the woman, Heather Rhiannon Morgan, a 31-year-old rapper also known as “Razzlekhan," to go to trial. She was released from jail Friday on a $3 million bail bond and was present for court via a phone call due to having COVID-19, CNBC reported.
The Justice Department has currently seized more than $3.6 billion in bitcoin from the laundering scheme, which so far accounts for the largest financial seize in the department’s history. Morgan and Morgan’s husband, Ilya “Dutch” Lichtenstein, 34, are accused of hiding nearly 120,000 bitcoin collected during the 2016 “Bitfinex” hack. The bitcoin was worth roughly $71 million at the time of the hack.
Lichtenstein could hold more responsibility for the laundering, which could possibly take part in Morgan’s plea deal. Lichtenstein did not appear for the hearing and is still in jail, as he was denied bail.
Morgan and Lichtenstein are accused of taking advantage of the hack by engaging in a series of complex transitions to obtain stolen bitcoin.
Morgan also received a suspension to her “speedy trail clock” due to there being an extensive amount of evidence described as “complex and voluminous” to be shared among the defense lawyers. This includes thousands of financial transactions involving cryptocurrency and U.S. dollars over the past five years and 50 electronic devices that have been seized.
“There are many situations where the government surprisingly learns a lot of things before filing and bright defense lawyers see the writing on the wall,” New York attorney Gerald Lefcourt told CNBC.
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