Alleged Bitcoin Launderer ‘Razzlekhan’ Wants To Access Crypto Wallets For Tax Purposes Bitcoin Insider

Heather “Razzlekhan” Morgan, who along with husband Ilya Lichtenstein is accused of laundering 119,754 Bitcoin stolen during the Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange hack in 2016, sought permission to access its crypto wallets and exchange accounts to calculate the couple’s tax liabilities.

In a filing in court As of September 12, Morgan’s attorney, Burnham & Gorokhov, PLLC, asked the court to clarify whether Morgan’s access to his wallets would violate pre-trial conditions.

“To determine her tax liability, Ms. Morgan must access specific cryptocurrency portfolios to calculate income from sales of cryptocurrency assets. The undersigned attorney has discussed this matter with the government and the government understands Ms. Morgan’s need to access this information,” the filing reads.

According to the document, the government has no objection to the request.

The filing further states that the conditions of the temporary release prohibit Morgan from engaging in crypto transactions, and “although this condition does not appear to prevent Ms. Morgan from simply accessing cryptocurrency accounts, the access to these accounts is one step away from engaging in transactions”.

“Therefore, Ms. Morgan respectfully asks this court to clarify that she is permitted to access her cryptocurrency wallets and exchange accounts for the limited purposes of calculating her tax liability,” reads the statement. query.

Waiting for the trial

US authorities arrested Morgan and Lichtenstein in February this year, charging the couple with conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with the 2016 Bitfinex hack in which nearly 120,000 Bitcoins were stolen.

At the time, the stolen Bitcoin was worth around $71 million, but given the wild gains in crypto markets since then, it was valued at over $4 billion in February when the pair were arrested.

After initial hearings in February, Morgan was released on $8 million bail, while Lichtenstein remains in custody. Authorities also banned the couple from engaging in crypto activities while awaiting trial. If found guilty in a trial, the couple could face up to 25 years in prison.

Morgan broke her six-month silence on Twitter in August to say she was no longer involved in crypto or the non-fungible token (NFT) projects.