The famous couple, accused of laundering $4.5 billion worth of cryptocurrencies in connection with the Bitfinex attack, reached a plea deal with US prosecutors, Reuters reported.
The Bitfinex attack occurred in August 2016, when hackers exploited a security vulnerability and transferred 119,756 Bitcoins, worth approximately $72 million at the time, from users' accounts to a single wallet.
The attack caused the BTC price to drop by 30% from $600 to $400.
Ilya Lichtenstein and his wife, Heather Morgan, who live in Manhattan, were first arrested in February 2022. According to court records, they will appear in defense hearing before US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in Washington on August 3.
The two were accused of plotting to launder over 100,000 BTC stolen after a hacker attacked Bitfinex and initiated more than 2,000 unauthorized transactions.
“It was the purpose of the secret scheme for defendants MORGAN and Lichtenstein to illegally enrich themselves by laundering the proceeds of the attack and scheme to defraud the victim virtual currency exchange Bitfinex and prevent detection of laundering activity,” the new case file said.
*Not investment advice.