Two individuals, Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan, were arrested in New York and are expected to appear in court. The two are charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the United States. They face as many as 25 years in prison if convicted.
Notably, the amount seized corresponds to a series of transactions of Bitfinex hack-tied BTC on 1 February 2022. According to a statement of facts issued by the Department of Justice, investigators gained access to the wallets on 31 January, meaning the February 1 transactions took place one day later.
In a statement, Bitfinex said that it will work with the DOJ and follow appropriate legal processes to establish the rights to a return of the stolen Bitcoin. The exchange also said that it will, within 18 months of the date it receives that recovery, use an amount equal to 80% of the recovered net funds to repurchase and burn outstanding UNUS SED LEO tokens.
These token repurchases can be accomplished in open market transactions or by acquiring UNUS SED LEO in over-the-counter trades, including directly trading Bitcoin for UNUS SED LEO.
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