Convicted Bitfinex hacker Ilya Lichtenstein has develop into a key authorities witness in a jury trial involving the alleged operator of crypto mixer Bitcoin Fog Roman Sterlingov, Bloomberg Information reported on Feb. 27.
US prosecutors arrested and charged Sterlingov in April 2021 over allegations that the mixer helped launder 1.2 million BTC — value $335 million on the time — linked to illicit actions on the darkish internet.
He’s presently dealing with a jury trial over prison fees.
Prosecutors arrested Lichtenstein and his spouse, Heather Morgan, in February 2022. He was convicted of the theft after getting into a responsible plea in August 2023. The couple conspired to launder $4.5 billion in Bitcoin they’d stolen from the crypto change Bitfinex beginning in 2016.
Felony turned witness
In keeping with the report, Lichtenstein testified that he had used Bitcoin Fog roughly ten occasions to launder a number of the stolen funds. Nevertheless, he finally stopped utilizing it in favor of a extra preferable mixer known as Helix.
Authorities shut down each mixers in 2021; Helix’s creator additionally pleaded responsible that yr.
Lichtenstein moreover testified that he didn’t use Bitcoin Fog and different coin mixers for many of his laundering actions. As an alternative, he usually deposited cash to crypto change accounts registered to identities he had bought on the darkish internet.
The Bitfinex hacker advised the jury that he had by no means communicated with Sterlingov immediately and didn’t know him. His testimony additionally revealed the explanations behind his resolution to hack Bitfinex. Lichtenstein stated:
“On the time, my enterprise was struggling, and I used to be feeling very burnt out from it.”
Sterlingov faces a number of fees
A DOJ assertion signifies that Sterlingov faces a number of fees, together with cash laundering, working an unlicensed money-transmitting enterprise, and cash transmission with no license within the District of Columbia.
Sterlingov has vehemently denied these fees and claims innocence. His attorneys have argued that no arduous proof — reminiscent of eyewitness testimony or server logs — hyperlinks him to the crypto mixer.
As of Feb. 27, the trial is ongoing, and the jury has but to challenge a verdict.
