Lawyers for Heather Morgan, accused of hacking the Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange in 2016 and laundering money, demand that she be allowed access to cryptocurrency wallets to calculate tax liabilities.
New York rapper Heather Morgan (Razzlekhan), was arrested in February, along with her husband Ilya Lichtenstein (Ilya Lichtenstein). Prosecutors accuse them of laundering proceeds from 119,754 BTC that were stolen from the Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange. That same month, Morgan was released on $3 million bail due to health issues.
Lawyer Yevgeny Gorokhov filed a motion with the court demanding that Morgan be allowed access to her digital assets in order to calculate the amount needed for the couple to pay taxes. The defense intends to clarify whether this can be done without violating the conditions of pre-trial release. Note that Morgan and Liechtenstein are prohibited from making transactions with cryptocurrencies until a court decision.
If found guilty, the defendants face up to 25 years in prison for conspiring to launder money and defraud the United States government.
“In order to determine her tax liability, Morgan must access certain cryptocurrency wallets in order to calculate income from the sale of crypto assets. The defense has already discussed this issue with the government, and they understand the need for access to this information, ”the appeal to the court says.
Recently, the alleged Bitfinex hacker denied being involved in cryptocurrency projects that use her name or photos.
Source: Bits
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