Where are Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan now? Details about Netflix's Biggest Heist Ever subjects explored

Dubbed the 'Bitcoin Bonnie and Clyde,' Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan are a married couple who pulled off one of the biggest Bitcoin thefts ever. Their story will be explored in Netflix's latest documentary, Biggest Heist Ever, which was released today on the streaming platform.

Lichtenstein was an entrepreneur who hacked into the virtual currency platform to make 2,000 unauthorized transactions, adding up to 120,000 Bitcoins. When his wife found out about it she went on to help him launder the stolen amount, which added up to $4.5 billion in 2022 when both of them were arrested. The couple admitted to their crimes and are now serving their respective sentences at a US prison.

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What did Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan do? Bitcoin heist details explored

Entrepreneur and cryptocurrency investor Ilya Lichtenstein was born in Russia before he moved to the US, where he met his wife Heather Morgan, an aspiring rapper, business owner, and columnist who used a stage name, Razzlekhan.

It all started in 2016 when Lichtenstein hacked into Bitfinex, which is a virtual currency exchange platform. He stole 120,000 bitcoins from there which amounted to $70 million at the time of the theft. Lichtenstein laundered the cryptocurrency with the help of Morgan when she found out three years later about this.

The heist was elaborately planned and the couple made use of various sophisticated laundering techniques and fake identities to set up online accounts to avoid detection.

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How did they avoid getting caught for so long?

According to the statement released by the US Department of Justice, the duo was laundering the money by depositing it into accounts at various darknet markets and cryptocurrency exchanges.

They were then 'chain hopping', which means withdrawing the funds and converting Bitcoin to other forms of cryptocurrency. They were also using US-based business accounts to legitimize their banking activity and even exchanging a part of the fund for gold coins and spending on NFTs, Uber rides, and even a PlayStation.

It was in 2017 when small amounts of the stolen Bitcoins were moved into AlphaBay, which is a DarkNet marketplace. However, only when they transferred a part of their stolen funds into Walmart vouchers and spent them, the authorities were able to trace it back to the Bitfinex hack.

According to Cryptocurrency investigators, Chainalysis:

"Agents discovered that the Walmart gift card specifically was redeemed through Walmart’s iPhone app under an account in Heather Morgan’s name. That enabled agents to get a search warrant for Lichtenstein and Morgan’s home and cloud storage accounts."

While examining the couple's cloud storage accounts, authorities found:

"Files containing details of the cryptocurrency addresses used to move the funds - including their private keys - along with the false information used to open accounts at cryptocurrency exchanges and plans to acquire fake passports."

This helped investigators track the whole flow of stolen funds.

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What happened to Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan and where are they now?

Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan were arrested in 2022. In August 2023, Lichtenstein pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and carrying out the hack.

Heather Morgan on the other hand admitted to only one count of money laundering conspiracy and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. In November 2024, Ilya Lichtenstein was sentenced to five years and Morgan was sent to 18 months in prison. They are now serving their sentences in a US prison.

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Catch the full story of Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan on Netflix today.