During the peak of the Covid pandemic, Heather Morgan occupied herself by learning Russian; designing streetwear fashion; and rapping about Wall Street’s excesses as her alter ego, Razzlekhan. Sheeven wrote articles for Forbes magazine in which she expressed her deep concern about cybercrime.
“Cybercriminals and fraudsters are taking advantage of this unexpected disruption, she wrote in a June 2020 column. She goes on to caution that people aren’t always who they seem to be online.
As it turns out, she was warning readers against people like herself: having recently been arrested and charged with laundering an eye-watering amount of cryptocurrency, the American and her husband, Ilya Lichtenstein, are now known as Bitcoin Bonnie and Crypto Clyde.
The staggering amounts involved have set the world of cryptocurrency abuzz: before their arrests last month, the couple managed to launder bitcoin worth $4,5 billion (about R67,5bn).
A raid of their New York apartment yielded the evidence that would result in the eventual confiscation of $3,6bn (R54bn) in crypto – the largest seizure made by the US department of justice.
Since 2016, investigators had been trying to hunt down the money that was stolen in the hacking of Bitfinex, a British Virgin Islands cryptocurrency exchange.
Denne historien er fra 3 March 2022-utgaven av YOU South Africa.
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Denne historien er fra 3 March 2022-utgaven av YOU South Africa.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
PUSHED TO THE LIMIT
The unusual relationship between an heiress and her husband has taken a sinister twist
HOW TO MAKE A SUPERBABY
Noor Siddiqui says her company can test embryos for hundreds of conditions from diabetes to Alzheimer's. Critics call it social engineering but she insists she's just giving prospective parents the means to avoid a lot of future heartache
THE GROWN-UP BRAIN
If you think your brain deteriorates as you age, think again!
THE eyes HAVE IT
They're the windows to our soul - and the first place to show the stresses of everyday life. Juliette Winter reveals expert tips to de-puff, brighten and smooth this delicate area
WE'RE IN THIS TOGETHER
It hasn't been an easy road but now this bodybuilding couple are making waves in the industry
I CAN'T WAIT FOR SUMMER!
Annetjie's about to get effective treatment for the skin condition that has blighted her life and she's looking forward to hitting the shops and facing the world
'SHE NO THREAT TO ANYONE'
When SA boxer Chris van Heerden's Russian girlfriend went to visit her parents she was thrown in jail and accused of treasonnow he's in a fight to free her
SUNK IN 16 MINUTES!
A sun-drenched holiday turned into a living nightmare for those aboard this luxury vessel
READY TO SMILE AGAIN
A groundbreaking surgical procedure will restore this Limpopo teen's badly damaged jaw and teeth
HARRY AT A CROSSROADS
As the prince turns 40, royal experts paint a picture of a troubled soul- isolated, homesick and struggling to find a purpose in life