竊取數十億比特幣的電腦專家被判入獄 5 年

伊利亞·利希滕斯坦(Ilya Lichtenstein) 策劃了虛擬貨幣交易所有史以來最大的盜竊案之一，然後他和妻子希瑟·瑞安農·摩根(Heather Rhiannon Morgan) 實施了一項精心策劃的計劃來清算被竊資金。

A computer expert who stole bitcoin worth billions of dollars at current prices — and then spent years laundering some of the hacked cryptocurrency with help from his wife — was sentenced to five years in prison Monday.

一名電腦專家週一被判處五年監禁，他竊取了以當前價格計算價值數十億美元的比特幣，然後花了數年時間在妻子的幫助下洗白了一些被駭客入侵的加密貨幣。

Ilya Lichtenstein masterminded one of the largest-ever thefts from a virtual currency exchange before he and his wife, Heather Rhiannon Morgan, carried out an elaborate scheme to liquidate the stolen funds, according to federal prosecutors.

據聯邦檢察官稱，伊利亞·利希滕斯坦(Ilya Lichtenstein) 策劃了虛擬貨幣交易所有史以來最大的盜竊案之一，然後他和妻子希瑟·瑞安農·摩根(Heather Rhiannon Morgan) 精心策劃了一項清算被盜資金的計劃。

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly told Lichtenstein that his theft was “meticulously planned” and not an impulsive act.

美國地區法官科琳·科拉爾-科泰利告訴利希滕斯坦，他的盜竊行為是“精心策劃的”，而不是一時衝動的行為。

“It’s important to send a message that you can’t commit these crimes with impunity, that there are consequences to them,” she said.

「重要的是要傳達這樣一個訊息：你不能犯下這些罪行而不受懲罰，他們會承擔後果，」她說。

Lichtenstein, who gets credit for the two years and nine months that he has spent in jail since his February 2022 arrest, expressed remorse for “wasting my talents on crime instead of a positive contribution to society.” He said he hopes that he can apply his expertise to fight cybercrime when he gets out of prison.

利希滕斯坦因自2022 年2 月被捕以來在監獄中度過了兩年零九個月而受到讚揚，他對“將自己的才能浪費在犯罪上，而不是對社會做出積極貢獻”表示悔恨。他表示，希望出獄後能運用自己的專業知識打擊網路犯罪。

“I want to take full responsibility for my actions and make amends any way I can,” he said.

「我想對自己的行為承擔全部責任，並盡我所能做出彌補，」他說。

The judge sentenced Morgan to 18 months in prison despite pleas from Lichtenstein that he was to blame for her involvement.

儘管利希滕斯坦懇求摩根對她的參與負有責任，但法官仍判處摩根 18 個月監禁。

In August 2016, Lichtenstein hacked into a virtual currency exchange, Hong Kong-based Bitfinex, and stole approximately 120,000 in bitcoin. It was worth approximately $71 million at the time of the hack and would be valued at more than $7.6 billion at current market prices, according to prosecutors.

2016 年 8 月，利希滕斯坦入侵了一家位於香港的虛擬貨幣交易所 Bitfinex，竊取了約 12 萬枚比特幣。據檢察官稱，駭客入侵時該資產的價值約為 7,100 萬美元，以當前市場價格計算，價值將超過 76 億美元。

Several months later, Lichtenstein began moving the stolen bitcoin in a string of complex transactions designed to conceal its path across a series of accounts and platforms. He enlisted his wife’s help in cleaning the stolen funds.

幾個月後，利希滕斯坦開始透過一系列複雜的交易轉移被盜的比特幣，旨在隱藏其在一系列帳戶和平台上的路徑。他在妻子的幫助下清理了被盜資金。

Lichtenstein, an entrepreneur and cryptocurrency investor, is a U.S. citizen born in Russia and grew up in a Chicago suburb. Morgan, a business owner and writer, adopted the alter ego “Razzlekhan” for performing rap songs and recording videos for her music.

利希滕斯坦是一位企業家和加密貨幣投資者，是美國公民，出生於俄羅斯，在芝加哥郊區長大。摩根是一位企業主和作家，她採用了另一個自我“Razzlekhan”來表演說唱歌曲並為她的音樂錄製視頻。

Lichtenstein and Morgan were living in New York City when they were arrested in February 2022.

利希滕斯坦和摩根於 2022 年 2 月被捕時居住在紐約市。

Prosecutors had recommended a five-year prison sentence for Lichtenstein, who pleaded guilty in August 2023 to one count of money laundering conspiracy. They also recommended an 18-month prison sentence for Morgan, who pleaded guilty to the same charge.

檢察官建議判處利希滕斯坦五年監禁，他於 2023 年 8 月承認一項共謀洗錢罪名。他們還建議判處摩根 18 個月監禁，摩根承認了同樣的指控。

“Neither the hack nor the laundering scheme was an impulsive decision. The defendant (Lichtenstein) spent months attempting to gain access to Bitfinex’s infrastructure and get the accesses and permissions he needed in order to orchestrate his hack,” prosecutors wrote.

「駭客攻擊和洗錢計畫都不是一個衝動的決定。被告（利希滕斯坦）花了幾個月的時間試圖訪問 Bitfinex 的基礎設施，並獲得他所需的訪問權限和權限，以便策劃他的駭客攻擊，」檢察官寫道。

Lichtenstein told his wife about the hack over three years later, but he initially solicited her help in laundering the proceeds “without explaining exactly what he was doing,” according to prosecutors.

檢察官稱，三年多後，利希滕斯坦向他的妻子講述了這次駭客攻擊事件，但他最初請求她幫助洗錢，「但沒有確切解釋他在做什麼」。

Morgan “was certainly a willing participant and bears full responsibility for her actions, but she was a lower-level participant,” prosecutors wrote.

檢察官寫道，摩根「當然是一個自願的參與者，並對自己的行為承擔全部責任，但她是一個較低級別的參與者」。

During family trips to Kazakhstan and Ukraine, Lichtenstein met with couriers who delivered him money that he smuggled back into the U.S.

在與家人前往哈薩克和烏克蘭旅行期間，利希滕斯坦遇到了快遞員，他們將他偷運回美國的錢交給了他

“Over half a decade, the defendant engaged in what IRS agents described as the most complicated money laundering techniques they had seen to date,” prosecutors wrote.

檢察官寫道：“五年多來，被告實施了國稅局特工所說的迄今為止他們所見過的最複雜的洗錢技術。”

Bitcoin is the largest and oldest cryptocurrency, which is digital money that typically isn’t backed by any government or banking institution.

比特幣是最大、最古老的加密貨幣，它是通常不受任何政府或銀行機構支持的數位貨幣。

The couple successfully laundered about 21% of the funds stolen from Bitfinex. The laundered money was worth at least $14 million at 2016 prices. Its value would have exceeded $1 billion at the time of their 2022 arrest.

這對夫婦成功洗掉了從 Bitfinex 盜取的約 21% 的資金。以 2016 年價格計算，洗錢價值至少 1,400 萬美元。到 2022 年他們被捕時，價值將超過 10 億美元。

“He became one of the greatest money launderers that the government has encountered in the cryptocurrency space,” prosecutors wrote.

檢察官寫道：“他成為政府在加密貨幣領域遇到的最嚴重的洗錢者之一。”

An attorney for Bitfinex said the hack “devastated” its finances and its reputation with its customers, with the stolen funds accounting for approximately 36% of the company’s assets at the time of theft.

Bitfinex 的一名律師表示，這次駭客攻擊「摧毀」了該公司的財務狀況和客戶聲譽，被盜資金約佔該公司被盜時資產的 36%。

“Bitfinex had to take unprecedented and immediate action to ensure that any losses from the Hack would ultimately be borne by Bitfinex and its shareholders alone, not its customers,” the lawyer, Barry Berke, wrote in a letter to the judge.

「Bitfinex 必須立即採取前所未有的行動，以確保此次黑客攻擊造成的任何損失最終將由Bitfinex 及其股東承擔，而不是由其客戶承擔，」律師巴里·伯克(Barry Berke) 在給法官的信中寫道。

A prosecutor said Lichtenstein immediately began cooperating with federal authorities after his arrest, helping them with other cybercrime investigations.

一名檢察官表示，利希滕斯坦被捕後立即開始與聯邦當局合作，協助他們進行其他網路犯罪調查。

Over 96% of the stolen funds have been recovered, with help from Lichtenstein, according to defense attorney Samson Enzer. The “vast bulk” of the stolen money was never spent, the lawyer said.

辯護律師薩姆森恩澤 (Samson Enzer) 表示，在利希滕斯坦的幫助下，超過 96% 的被盜資金已被追回。律師表示，「大部分」被竊資金從未被花掉。

“This is not an evil person,” Enzer said. “This is a good person who made some very bad mistakes.”

「這不是一個邪惡的人，」恩澤說。 “這是一個好人，但犯了一些非常嚴重的錯誤。”