The New York couple charged with trying to launder $4.5 billion in bitcoin stolen in a 2016 hack of Bitfinex set to plead guilty in the case, a new federal court docket entry suggests.
That paperwork says “charged offense(s) and statutory provision; charge(s) in plea and statutory provision; elements of the offense; copy of the plea agreement; penalties; and [federal sentencing] guideline calculations.”
The couple was charged in a complaint when they were arrested in February 2022, and had pleaded not guilty to the charges listed – money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to defraud the United States.
Lichtenstein, 34, and the 32-year-old Morgan are accused of trying to launder the proceeds of 119,754 bitcoin that were stolen from Bitfinex’s platform in August 2016.
At the time of their arrests, the DOJ said officials had been able to seize more than 94,000 bitcoin involved in the hack, which at that time of the seizure was worth about $3.6 billion. That was the largest financial seizure in DOJ history.
