CROC OF WALL ST
Inside wild life of rapper Heather Morgan who bragged about being a ‘dirty h*’ before ‘laundering $4.5BILLION Bitcoin’
HEATHER Morgan bragged about being a multi-millionaire entrepreneur and "dirty h*" rapper - until she was arrested by US authorities on suspicion of laundering $4.5billion in Bitcoin.
The disgraced entrepreneur and her Russian husband Ilya "Dutch" Lichtenstein, 34, have been accused of a major darknet operation that saw investors swindled of billions out of dollars in crypto.
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The couple, who were arrested in Manhattan on Tuesday, have been accused of transferring $4.5bn in Bitcoin into a digital wallet they controlled and face money laundering and fraud charges.
Federal law enforcement say the funds may have been linked to a 2016 hack of Bitfinex - a crypto exchange platform, though they have not directly charged Morgan and Lichtenstein with carrying out cyber attack.
'THE INFAMOUS CROCODILE OF WALL STREET'
The bizarre hipster couple loved sharing their high-roller lifestyle online.
Morgan - who goes by the stage name - calls herself "the infamous Crocodile of Wall Street" who is "more fearless and more shameless than ever before" on her website.
The 31-year-old's bio adds: "Just like her fearless entrepreneurial spirit and hacker mindset, Razz shamelessly explores new frontiers of art, pushing the limit of what's possible."
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In music videos set in the Financial District, Morgan - who ran an email marketing company - dedicates her songs to “the entrepreneurs and hackers, all the misfits and smart slackers," and claims to be a serial entrepreneur and software inventor.
And in her 2019 single Versace Bedouin, she raps: "I'm many things, a rapper, an economist, a journalist, a writer, a CEO, and a dirty, dirty, dirty dirty h*".
But the pesky alleged con-artist also worked as a Forbes contributor and ironically penned a piece called "Experts Share Tips To Protect Your Business From Cybercriminals".
In her bio on the site, it says: "When she's not reverse-engineering black markets to think of better ways to combat fraud and cybercrime, she enjoys rapping and designing streetwear fashion."
She also offered advice on flying to coup, fashion tips and "berazzling" your home gym into a "CHIC ART MASTERPIECE," according to the .
Morgan bragged about running a multi-million-dollar company and had "billionaire Silicon Valley contacts".
In one TikTok video, the fallen entrepreneur claims to have started her own company when she was 23 and "grew it into a multi-million-dollar business from zero outside funding and no connections. I didn't go to an Ivy League school".
Today’s arrests, and the department’s largest financial seizure ever, show that cryptocurrency is not a safe haven for criminals
Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco
She goes on to sell "a simple framework from Silicone Valley from some top entrepreneurs".
In other videos, she promoted her "survivor's anti-corona juice" which mostly consisted of blood orange juice, ginger and turmeric root - which she claims helped her battle the more deadly MERS virus.
And she recently published a string of articles that promised "3 steps to become an expert in anything" and "3 things haggling at a silk Bazaar taught me about sales negotiations".
She also allegedly wrote in an email that her husband had "gifted me cryptocurrency over several years (2014, 2015,), which have appreciated" and that she had been "keeping them in cold storage".
CRYPTOCRIMINAL COUPLE
Morgan and her husband are accused of transferring 119,754 Bitcoin into a digital wallet controlled by the husband, a dual citizen of Russia and the US, after a hacker breached the cryptocurrency exchange and initiated over 2,000 unauthorized transactions, according to court documents.
At the time of the theft, 119,754 Bitcoin was worth around $71million. After years of cryptocurrency's value increasing, the amount is now around $4.5billion.
Federal officials were able to seize about 94,000 of the stolen bitcoin, with an estimated value of $3.6billion.
Morgan and Lichtenstein were arrested on Tuesday in Manhattan on federal charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the United States.
Officials say it was the largest single seizure of funds in the history of the Justice Departments and the most high-profile case since the agency announced a new taskforce for crypto crimes.
“Today’s arrests, and the department’s largest financial seizure ever, show that cryptocurrency is not a safe haven for criminals,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco, calling the laundering a "futile effort to maintain digital anonymity."
"Thanks to the meticulous work of law enforcement, the department once again showed how it can and will follow the money, no matter what form it takes.”
According to , the pair allegedly only spent a portion of the stolen money.
Prosecutors said that what they did spend was on gold, NFTS, and "absolutely mundane things such as purchasing a Walmart gift card for $500."
Though the stolen money is from Bitfinex, court documents do not accuse the duo of the hack itself - and it has not been made clear if the pair is suspected of stealing the money.
"As the complaint alleges, the FBI and federal prosecutors were able to trace the movement of Bitcoin from this hack," said the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves.
I'm many things, a rapper, an economist, a journalist, a writer, a CEO, and a dirty, dirty, dirty dirty h*.
Heather Morgan
Graves also added that the money moved through a major darknet exchange called AlphaBay that has been tied to a host of crimes.
The government will seek to return the stolen funds to the rightful owners, according to officials.
“Bitfinex will work with the DOJ and follow appropriate legal processes to establish our rights to a return of the stolen bitcoin,” said in a written statement.
Lichtenstein was ordered to home detention on Tuesday with a wearable GPS and a $5million bond while Morgan has the same sentence but with a $3million bond, .
Lichtenstein has worked as a tech entrepreneur and describes himself in online profiles as an "angel investor."
He got engaged to Morgan in 2019, according to their
“I got engaged to my best friend and the woman of my dreams!” Lichtenstein wrote.
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Morgan and Lichtenstein face of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which could mean up to 20 years in prison.
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