The Japan Times - 'Dutch' and 'Razzlekhan,': US couple behind record bitcoin haul

EUR -
AED 4.242871
AFN 80.29749
ALL 97.39365
AMD 443.453721
ANG 2.067654
AOA 1059.417382
ARS 1492.125753
AUD 1.773687
AWG 2.082443
AZN 1.971059
BAM 1.953928
BBD 2.334714
BDT 142.061276
BGN 1.956503
BHD 0.435522
BIF 3399.494258
BMD 1.155308
BND 1.48869
BOB 7.990967
BRL 6.441647
BSD 1.156317
BTN 100.32023
BWP 15.653087
BYN 3.783837
BYR 22644.039915
BZD 2.322856
CAD 1.590969
CDF 3338.840018
CHF 0.930433
CLF 0.028294
CLP 1109.950738
CNY 8.291535
CNH 8.295777
COP 4778.932199
CRC 584.352807
CUC 1.155308
CUP 30.615666
CVE 110.851614
CZK 24.588399
DJF 205.32154
DKK 7.463447
DOP 70.473603
DZD 150.647593
EGP 56.207883
ERN 17.329622
ETB 159.665598
FJD 2.632982
FKP 0.862697
GBP 0.865101
GEL 3.123084
GGP 0.862697
GHS 12.130773
GIP 0.862697
GMD 83.18201
GNF 10000.347536
GTQ 8.87296
GYD 241.924507
HKD 9.068961
HNL 30.442331
HRK 7.535611
HTG 151.64734
HUF 399.873525
IDR 18918.633226
ILS 3.893302
IMP 0.862697
INR 100.585114
IQD 1513.453688
IRR 48652.9167
ISK 142.206774
JEP 0.862697
JMD 185.252519
JOD 0.819084
JPY 171.4899
KES 149.621005
KGS 100.877345
KHR 4644.338406
KMF 492.737132
KPW 1039.728654
KRW 1603.775922
KWD 0.352935
KYD 0.963631
KZT 628.095437
LAK 24925.77391
LBP 103444.312069
LKR 349.352863
LRD 232.216912
LSL 20.667919
LTL 3.411324
LVL 0.698834
LYD 6.250117
MAD 10.501171
MDL 19.733205
MGA 5118.01576
MKD 61.585489
MMK 2425.002011
MNT 4148.16059
MOP 9.350168
MRU 46.003906
MUR 53.24819
MVR 17.790801
MWK 2006.173076
MXN 21.659279
MYR 4.892759
MZN 73.893396
NAD 20.668769
NGN 1767.383833
NIO 42.457917
NOK 11.783294
NPR 160.516333
NZD 1.939299
OMR 0.444208
PAB 1.156382
PEN 4.104227
PGK 4.796843
PHP 66.170238
PKR 327.009733
PLN 4.27963
PYG 8661.152008
QAR 4.206188
RON 5.077347
RSD 117.178263
RUB 93.873369
RWF 1663.643749
SAR 4.333072
SBD 9.524549
SCR 16.341571
SDG 693.764154
SEK 11.144813
SGD 1.487234
SHP 0.907891
SLE 26.572516
SLL 24226.238999
SOS 660.261218
SRD 42.395661
STD 23912.546332
STN 24.78136
SVC 10.117745
SYP 15020.732228
SZL 20.668146
THB 37.420832
TJS 11.014705
TMT 4.055132
TND 3.344653
TOP 2.705851
TRY 46.890804
TTD 7.84865
TWD 34.315312
TZS 2969.141991
UAH 48.341778
UGX 4145.208089
USD 1.155308
UYU 46.268076
UZS 14556.882726
VES 141.741581
VND 30297.956468
VUV 137.831721
WST 3.169471
XAF 655.380169
XAG 0.030234
XAU 0.000347
XCD 3.122278
XCG 2.083994
XDR 0.801102
XOF 645.817384
XPF 119.331742
YER 278.025064
ZAR 20.650238
ZMK 10399.150733
ZMW 26.568616
ZWL 372.008756
  • RBGPF

    3.6700

    77.55

    +4.73%

  • SCU

    0.0000

    12.72

    0%

  • CMSD

    0.2200

    23.12

    +0.95%

  • SCS

    -0.3400

    10.51

    -3.24%

  • BCC

    -0.6000

    86.14

    -0.7%

  • CMSC

    0.1100

    22.61

    +0.49%

  • BCE

    -0.1700

    23.66

    -0.72%

  • JRI

    0.0300

    13.06

    +0.23%

  • NGG

    0.2000

    70.52

    +0.28%

  • RELX

    0.1500

    51.92

    +0.29%

  • RYCEF

    0.2400

    13.38

    +1.79%

  • RIO

    0.0800

    62.27

    +0.13%

  • GSK

    0.2200

    37.67

    +0.58%

  • VOD

    -0.0500

    11.11

    -0.45%

  • BTI

    0.9900

    52.77

    +1.88%

  • AZN

    2.1500

    73.98

    +2.91%

  • BP

    0.2900

    32.96

    +0.88%

'Dutch' and 'Razzlekhan,': US couple behind record bitcoin haul
'Dutch' and 'Razzlekhan,': US couple behind record bitcoin haul

'Dutch' and 'Razzlekhan,': US couple behind record bitcoin haul

She's accused of laundering billions of dollars in stolen bitcoin with her husband, but her alleged crimes are likely to be overshadowed by an excruciating foray into rap music.

Text size:

Heather Morgan, also known -– largely to herself –- as "raunchy rapper" Razzlekhan, was arrested along with her husband Ilya "Dutch" Lichtenstein in Manhattan on Tuesday.

The headline announced by the Justice Department was the couple's alleged involvement in laundering bitcoin stolen in a 2016 hack of the virtual currency exchange Bitfinex.

But public attention was swiftly diverted when it emerged that Morgan had another life as an aspiring rap star, and had put out a video that became an internet sensation for its sheer awfulness.

Dubbed "Bitcoin Bonnie and Crypto Clyde" by financial newsletter Morning Brew, Lichtenstein, 34, and Morgan, 31, are being held without bail until a hearing on Friday.

Details about Lichtenstein, a dual US-Russian national from Illinois, and Morgan, who is from California, have emerged since their arrest from their voluminous social media presence.

Morgan's cringeworthy rap videos in particular were burning up the internet before being taken offline.

On her website, Morgan calls herself "Razzlekhan" or the "Versace Bedouin" -- "the raunchy rapper with more pizzazz that Genghis Khan."

"I'm a real risk taker/pirate riding the flood/I'm a badass money maker," she raps in one video in which she refers to herself as the "Crocodile of Wall Street."

"Come real far but don't know where I'm headed/Blindly following rules is for fools," she says, gyrating on Wall Street wearing sunglasses, a leopard print scarf, and shiny gold jacket.

"Her art often resembles something in between an acid trip and a delightful nightmare," Morgan wrote about herself on her website, Razzlekhan.com. "Definitely not for the faint of heart or easily offended.

"Razz likes to push the limits of what people are comfortable with," she said. "Her style has often been described as 'sexy horror comedy.'"

When not making rap videos or posting pictures of her artwork or Bengal cat on Facebook, Morgan was a contributor to the financial publications Forbes and Inc.

A June 2020 article she wrote for Forbes was ironically titled: "Experts Share Tips To Protect Your Business From Cybercriminals."

- 'Living my ideal life' -

According to Morgan's videos and Facebook postings, she grew up in California, the daughter of a biologist and a high school librarian.

She graduated from the University of California, Davis, and went to work as an economist after doing graduate work at the American University in Cairo.

Morgan said she eventually became a "serial software entrepreneur who started multiple successful companies" including one called SalesFolk.

More discreet online, Lichtenstein described himself on LinkedIn as a "technology entrepreneur, coder and investor" and the founder of several tech companies.

In a Facebook post, he recalled how he proposed to Morgan -- "my best friend and the woman of my dreams!"

It involved what Lichtenstein called a "weird, creative multi-channel marketing campaign" that saw posters of "Razzlekhan" plastered across New York City and her face on a Times Square billboard.

In one YouTube video, Morgan said her parents "didn't have a lot of money."

"I've also been totally broke and homeless multiple times," she said. "Money comes and goes. Sometimes you have it, sometimes you don't.

"It's really nice when you have it but nothing in this life is certain," she said. "Right now I'm basically living my ideal life."

Lichtenstein and Morgan allegedly sought to launder the proceeds of 119,754 bitcoin -- presently valued at $4.5 billion -- stolen in the 2016 hack of Bitfinex.

The Justice Department said it had recovered 94,000 of the stolen bitcoin valued at over $3.6 billion at the time of the seizure.

The couple face up to 25 years in prison if convicted of conspiracy to launder money.

K.Hashimoto--JT