The American court has suspended the decision to release on bail the Russian Ilya Lichtenstein and his wife Heather Morgan, who are accused of laundering stolen bitcoins in the amount of $4.5 billion at the current exchange rate. It is reported by RIA Novosti.
"By this decision... the release order issued by Judge of the Southern District of New York Freeman on February 8, 2022 is suspended pending a review of the detention decision by this court," the court filing reads.
Earlier, the US Department of Justice announced the confiscation of more than $3.6 billion worth of bitcoins, which were stolen in 2016 as a result of a hacker attack from Bitfinex, one of Hong Kong's largest bitcoin exchanges.
Ilya Lichtenstein, 34, and Heather Morgan, 31, were charged in a criminal case of conspiracy to launder the stolen 119,754 bitcoins.
The value of the seized digital currency makes it the agency's largest financial seizure ever, officials said. At the same time, it is not specified whether the defendants were involved in the hacker attack on the exchange itself. The investigation is ongoing.
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