Heler Morgan was released on bail of $ 3 million involved in the assets stolen with Bitfinex

The Court of County of Colombia released $ 3 million accused of washing the Bitfinex Assets stolen from the bitcoin agriculture. Her wife and second person involved in the case – Ilya Liechtenstein – Judge Beryl Hawell left in custody, writes Coindesk.

On February 8, Liechtenstein and Morgan were detained on charges of laundering 119 754 BTC, stolen from Bitfinex in 2016. The authorities announced the confiscation of a couple of bitcoins for $ 3.6 billion. They face up to 25 years in prison.

The accused was not released on bail of $ 8 million, despite the decision of the justice of the peace in the southern district of New York, which gave them such a right. At the hearing, the prosecutor said that the spouses have access to $ 330 million, which they can use to escape.

At a meeting on February 14, Hawell supported this position. According to the prosecution, Liechtenstein and Morgan were preparing to leave for Russia or Ukraine.

As evidence, the prosecutor’s office brought the results of the search. Law enforcement officers found the fact of registering telephone numbers and financial accounts during a trip to Ukraine in 2019, as well as files on Liechtenstein’s computer. The latter, according to the department, contain stolen Russian and Ukrainian identity certificates for a man and a woman.

The prosecution also indicated that the keys to the wallet with $ 3.6 billion in BTC were found on Liechtenstein’s computer, so it was he who should control the stolen cryptocurrency. The defense called the arguments against its customers “far -fetched”, “confusing” and “indirect”.

“I completely disagree with this characteristic,” Hawell emphasized.

During the meeting, representatives of the prosecutor’s office said that approximately 7500 BTCs were sent from Lichtenstein’s wallet for 24 addresses, allegedly controlled by Billionaire Bill spouses. The prosecution did not rule out that they “prepared savings accounts”.

The judge admitted that there is no significant evidence against Morgan besides the statement that she “presumably received funds associated with the case”. Protection also pointed to the problems of the client’s health.

Hawell decided to free Morgan on bail with the conditions previously defined by the justice of the peace in the southern district of New York. This is about:

• an amount of $ 3 million, including the house of her parents in North California;
• electronic bracelet;
• home arrest without access to devices with the Internet connection;
• Cryptocurrency trading prohibition.

The defense noted that the arrest of the house of the parents – their only asset – will be a “measure of moral influence”, which will force Morgan to cooperate.

“Having several hundred million dollars in cryptocurrency, [accused] could buy their parents on the personal island,” the prosecution retorted.

For Beryri Hawell, a meeting in the Morgan case is not the first one associated with digital assets. In 2020, the judge stated that Bitcoin is a form of money and is subject to the legislation on laundering.

Recall that law enforcement officers were able to reach the assets of the spouses, who were involved in the assets of the spouses stolen from Bitfinex,.