{"id":57762,"date":"2022-02-15T11:19:21","date_gmt":"2022-02-15T09:19:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=57762"},"modified":"2025-09-04T13:24:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T10:24:17","slug":"heather-morgan-linked-to-bitfinex-hacked-assets-released-on-3-million-bond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/heather-morgan-linked-to-bitfinex-hacked-assets-released-on-3-million-bond\/","title":{"rendered":"Heather Morgan, linked to Bitfinex-hacked assets, released on $3 million bond"},"content":{"rendered":"

The District of Columbia court released Heather Morgan on a $3 million bond, accused of laundering assets stolen from the Bitfinex bitcoin exchange. Her husband and co-defendant, Ilya Lichtenstein, remains in custody, according to CoinDesk<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On February 8, Lichtenstein and Morgan detained<\/a> on charges of laundering 119,754 BTC, stolen from Bitfinex in 2016. Authorities said they seized $3.6 billion worth of bitcoin from the couple. They face up to 25 years in prison.<\/p>\n

The defendants were not released on an $8 million bond<\/a>, despite a magistrate judge in the Southern District of New York having issued an order granting them such release. At the hearing, the prosecutor said the couple has access to $330 million, which they could use to flee.<\/p>\n

At the February 14 hearing Howell supported this position. According to the prosecution, Lichtenstein and Morgan were preparing to flee to Russia or Ukraine.<\/p>\n

As evidence, prosecutors cited the results of a search. Law enforcement found evidence of the registration of phone numbers and financial accounts during a trip to Ukraine in 2019, as well as files on Lichtenstein’s computer. The latter, the agency says, contain stolen Russian and Ukrainian identification documents for a man and a woman.<\/p>\n

The prosecution also noted that keys to the $3.6 billion BTC wallet were found on Lichtenstein’s computer, so the stolen cryptocurrency would have been controlled by him. The defense described the prosecutors\u2019 arguments as \u201cspecious,\u201d \u201cconfusing,\u201d and \u201ccircumstantial.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cI completely disagree with such a characterization,\u201d Howell emphasized.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

During the hearing, prosecutors said about 7,500 BTC were sent from Lichtenstein’s wallet to 24 addresses, presumably controlled by the couple. The prosecution did not rule out that they were \u201csavings accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n

The judge acknowledged that there is no substantial evidence against Morgan beyond the claim that she \u201callegedly received funds related to the case.\u201d The defense also pointed to health problems of the client.<\/p>\n

Howell ordered Morgan released on bail with conditions previously set by the magistrate in the Southern District of New York. The conditions are:<\/p>\n