From Wall Street To Tech Company Hire: The Story Of 'The Crocodile' And The 120,000 Bitcoin Heist

Zinger Key Points
  • Heather Morgan, who was arrested in February 2022 for allegedly stealing over 119,000 Bitcoin, has been offered a tech job in New York City.
  • A federal judge grants Morgan’s request to modify the terms of her home confinement so she can work three days a week at the office.

Alleged cryptocurrency thief and rapper Heather Morgan, aka “The Crocodile of Wall Street," has a new job.

What Happened: Morgan, who became a well-known figure in Twitter’s high-finance community for posting obscure rap videos under the moniker "The Crocodile of Wall Street,” became employed by an unnamed tech business in New York City despite being under 24-hour house arrest for allegedly stealing 119,754 Bitcoin BTC/USD with her husband Ilya Lichtenstein in 2016.

A federal magistrate judge granted Morgan’s request to modify the terms of her home confinement so she can work three days a week from the employer’s New York office, 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. The government didn’t object to the proposed modification.

In 2016, the popular cryptocurrency platform Bitfinex was hacked and thieves made off with around 119,754 Bitcoin worth about $71 million at that time.

As the couple allegedly behind the heist, Morgan and Lichtenstein, were charged by the U.S. Justice Department in February 2022 for their roles in the theft.

Read Also: 6 Facts About The Alleged Lichtenstein-Bitcoin Scam: A Timeline

Morgan, who has denied wrongdoing, was offered a job “in the role of growth marketing and business development specialist,” her lawyer, Eugene Gorokhov said in a court filing.

Gorokhov asked the court to keep the name of the employer secret to protect Morgan’s safety, though prosecutors were made aware of the entity which employed Morgan.

Why It Matters: It is worth mentioning that while Morgan was free on a $3 million bond and has been granted permission to work while under house arrest, her husband has been denied bail and is still in federal custody.

The pair is facing a 25-year jail sentence for a total of 37 counts of charges, including conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering and obstruction of justice.

The couple, according to the U.S., had "highly troubling" connections abroad, false identities and access to hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin.

A status hearing in the case is set for Jan. 27 in Washington.

Read Next: FTX Says $415M In Crypto Hacked Since Bankruptcy

Photo: Golden Dayz via Shutterstock

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