Russian citizen Ilya Liechtenstein and his American partner, Hizer Morgan, have reached a compromise in their ongoing legal case related to the Bitfinex cryptocurrency. According to documents from American justice, the couple will inform the court in Washington on August 3rd.
Liechtenstein immigrated to the United States in 1994 and holds dual citizenship with both Russia and the United States. His companion, Morgan, is an American citizen. In February 2022, both were arrested in New York on suspicion of stealing approximately $4.5 billion through the Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange in 2016. The court later decided to move their case from New York to Washington for further investigation.
The US Department of Justice had previously announced that the stolen bitcoins from the cyber attack on Bitfinex had been seized, totaling $3.6 billion. This amount was equivalent to the value of the cryptocurrency held by Liechtenstein and Morgan. The investigation revealed that the couple had used various tactics, such as creating fake identities, depositing funds into cryptocurrency accounts and underground markets, converting bitcoins to other virtual currencies, and employing transaction automation software to conduct numerous operations within short time intervals.