CRYPTO CROC
Rapper Heather Morgan dubbed the ‘Crocodile of Wall Street’ & husband arrested for ‘laundering $4.5B in stolen Bitcoin’
A RAPPER who calls herself the 'Crocodile of Wall Street' and her tech entrepreneur husband have been arrested for allegedly laundering billions in stolen Bitcoin.
Heather Morgan, 31, and Ilya "Dutch" Lichtenstein, 34, have been accused of laundering a cryptocurrency fortune of $4.5billion in Bitcoin after the Bitfinex exchange was hacked in 2016.
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The bizarre hipster couple, who live on Wall Street in New York, allegedly transferred 119,754 Bitcoin into a digital wallet controlled by the husband, a dual citizen of Russia and the US, after a hacker breached the cryptocurrency exchange and initiated over 2,000 unauthorized transactions, according to court documents.
At the time of the theft, 119,754 Bitcoin was worth around $71million. After years of cryptocurrency's value increasing, the amount is now around $4.5billion.
Federal officials were able to seize about 94,000 of the stolen bitcoin, with an estimated value of $3.6billion.
Part-time rapper Morgan - who goes by the stage name - self-declares herself "the infamous Crocodile of Wall Street" who is "more fearless and more shameless than ever before" on her website.
The 31-year-old's bio adds: "Just like her fearless entrepreneurial spirit and hacker mindset, Razz shamelessly explores new frontiers of art, pushing the limit of what's possible."
In music videos set in the Financial District, Morgan - who ran an email marketing company - dedicates her songs to “the entrepreneurs and hackers, all the misfits and smart slackers.”
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And in her 2019 single Versace Bedouin, she raps: "I'm many things, a rapper, an economist, a journalist, a writer, a CEO, and a dirty, dirty, dirty dirty h*".
Morgan also works as a Forbes contributor - and even wrote a piece titled "Experts Share Tips To Protect Your Business From Cybercriminals".
In her bio on the site, it says: "When she's not reverse-engineering black markets to think of better ways to combat fraud and cybercrime, she enjoys rapping and designing streetwear fashion."
She and Lichtenstein, 34, were arrested on Tuesday in Manhattan on federal charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the United States.
Officials say that this is the largest single seizure of funds in the history of the Justice Department, and the most high-profile case since the agency announced its initiative to investigate cryptocurrency crimes more seriously.
“Today’s arrests, and the department’s largest financial seizure ever, show that cryptocurrency is not a safe haven for criminals,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco, calling the laundering a "futile effort to maintain digital anonymity."
"Thanks to the meticulous work of law enforcement, the department once again showed how it can and will follow the money, no matter what form it takes.”
According to , the pair allegedly only spent a portion of the stolen money.
CRYPTOCRIMINAL COUPLE
Prosecutors said that what they did spend was on gold, NFTS, and "absolutely mundane things such as purchasing a Walmart gift card for $500."
Though the stolen money is from Bitfinex, court documents do not accuse the duo of the hack itself - and it has not been made clear if the pair is suspected of stealing the money.
"As the complaint alleges, the FBI and federal prosecutors were able to trace the movement of Bitcoin from this hack," said the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves.
Graves also added that the money moved through a major darknet exchange called AlphaBay that has been tied to a host of crimes.
The government will seek to return the stolen funds to the rightful owners, according to officials.
“Bitfinex will work with the DOJ and follow appropriate legal processes to establish our rights to a return of the stolen bitcoin,” said in a written statement.
The couple was arrested in Manhattan on Tuesday morning.
Lichtenstein was ordered to home detention on Tuesday with a wearable GPS and a $5million bond while Morgan has the same sentence but with a $3million bond, .
Lichtenstein has worked as a tech entrepreneur and describes himself in online profiles as an "angel investor."
He got engaged to Morgan in 2019, according to their
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“I got engaged to my best friend and the woman of my dreams!” Lichtenstein wrote.
Morgan and Lichtenstein face of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which could mean up to 20 years in prison.
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