Justice Dept. announces $3.6B crypto seizure, 2 arrests

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department announced Tuesday its largest-ever financial seizure — more than $3.6 billion — and the arrests of a New York couple accused of conspiring to launder billions of dollars in cryptocurrency stolen from the 2016 hack of a virtual currency exchange.

Federal law enforcement officials said the recovered sum was linked to the hack of Bitfinex, a virtual currency exchange whose systems were breached by hackers nearly six years ago.

Ilya “Dutch” Lichtenstein, a 34-year-old citizen of Russia and the United States, and his wife, Heather Morgan, 31, were arrested in Manhattan on Tuesday morning, accused of relying on various sophisticated techniques to launder the stolen cryptocurrency and to conceal the transactions. They face federal charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the United States.

“The message to criminals is clear: Cryptocurrency is not a safe haven. We can and we will follow the money, no matter what form it takes,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a video statement released by the Justice Department.

https://apnews.com/article/cryptocurrency-stolen-arrest-7e83f7188e8e1580e9678d8a47d6ab32

[ARPad95]

1. WTG, DOJ!

[calimary]

2. How on earth does one "launder" that much money?

Friends in “high AND low places”?

[Ocelot II]

3. How does one seize crypto?

[NewHendoLib]

4. Laundering crypto? Like laundering air?

May this bizarre pyramid scheme bullshit go down in flames

[lagomorph777]

6. And I thought the one thing it's good for is money laundering.

[Silent3]

5. I hope they don't have to keep the crypto in crypto form as evidence...

...and can cash it in, for the good of the US Treasury, before that $3.6B is worth less than a dozen happy meals.

[Chainfire]

7. No stone unturned to go after thieves.

Presidents are just toooooo hard.