At their bail hearing, Ilya “Dutch” Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan — who have been accused of conspiracy to launder billions in cryptocurrency — argued that they would not flee the country between now and their trial in part because the married couple’s frozen embryos are stored in New York. Judge Beryl Howell delivered an excoriating ruling in which she released Morgan and detained Lictenstein, saying evidence indicated he had the knowledge and the means to flee rather than appear at their trial.
Lichtenstein and Morgan were arrested Feb. 8 for allegedly conspiring to launder stolen Bitcoin currently valued at $4.5 billion. The cryptocurrency was stolen during a major 2016 hack of Hong Kong–based virtual currency exchange Bitfinex, which caused the trading value of Bitcoin to temporarily plummet 20 percent when it happened. According to court documents, the hacker…
