Netflix Orders Doc Series About Crypto Laundering Of A Couple

On Friday, a well-known American streaming service, Netflix, announced that it ordered a docuseries on crypto laundering linked to Bitfinex’s historic hack of 2016. Netflix came to this move after the aspiring rapper Heather Morgan and her husband Ilya Lichtenstein got arrested in New York last week, alleged by the Department Of Justice (DOJ) in crypto laundering, moving billions of dollars Bitcoins tied to Bitfinex hack.

The corporate revealed that Chris Smith would direct the making of the crypto laundering couple’s documentary, who is the producer of bizarre hits such as “FYRE: The Best Occasion That By no means Occurred” and executive producer of ”Tiger King”. In addition, Nick Bilton will play his role as an executive producer whose portfolio includes doc series including “Pretend Well-known”, “American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Prison Mastermind Behind the Silk Street,” and “The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley.”

Netflix has not disclosed the release date of the documentary yet.

The doc series will follow the characters of the couple allegedly laundered Bitcoins worth over $5 billion, says Netflix;

Ilya ”Dutch” Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan have been arrested for their New York Metropolis condominium on Tuesday, February 8, and now face prices of conspiring to launder practically 120,000 Bitcoin tied to the 2016 hack of a digital foreign money alternate.

DOJ Seized 94,636 Bitcoins Of Crypto Laundering Scheme

Morgan, a 31 years old rapper also known as RazzleKhan, was a former contributor at Forbes, and she describes herself as the ”crocodile of Wall Road.” Whereas Lichentenstein, who holds twin citizenships of Russia and the U.S., was co-founder at Mixrank and backed a Y-Combinator startup.

The U.S Department Of Justice (DOJ) announced on Tuesday that Lichtenstein and Morgan had been arrested for “alleged conspiracy to launder $4.5 billion in stolen cryptocurrency” tied to Bitfinex 2016 hack. In particular, the court paperwork presented them involved in the proceeding of crypto laundering that moved 119,754 Bitcoins of stolen cryptocurrencies of Bitfinex exchange. An unknown person transferred stolen Bitcoins to a wallet connected to Lichentenstein and Morgan.

The DOJ has recovered 94,636 Bitcoins from stolen cryptocurrency. The department has called it the biggest cryptocurrency seizure in history, valued at over $3.6 billion at the time of seizure.

The value of stolen BTCs was nearly $72 million at the time of the hack in 2016. And the current value of Bitcoin balloons it to over $5 billion.

BTC price fluctuates near $42K, facing dips | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com

The officials further explained that the couple, now dubbed ‘crypto Bonnie and Clyde, relied on the refined crypto laundering strategies to receive funds in the crypto wallet and conceal them online. They used different laptops’ apps to automate transactions and transfer funds at varying exchanges and darknet markets.

Lawyers added that they cashed out millions of dollars through Bitcoin ATMs and via purchasing NFTs and Gold alongside buying everyday items like Walmart gift cards used for personal expenses.

                      Featured image from Pixabay, chart from Tradingview.com

Publication date

02/14/2022 - 16:00

Author

Dan B

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