DOJ rejects Tornado Cash co-founder’s motion to dismiss charges
US Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors have opposed a motion to dismiss conspiracy and money laundering charges against Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Semenov. The defense contends that its case leaves disputed facts open to the jury, which is inappropriate for a preliminary injunction.
In the DOJ's response, prosecutors analyzed why Tornado Cash's co-founder should answer for the crimes charged against him. The DOJ defended its defense of Tornado Cash, citing that it was introduced as a mixer in 2019. The service consists of a website, a user interface, a collection of smart contracts and a network of “relays”.
The DOJ charged Roman Storm and his partner Roman Semenov with money laundering, operating an unauthorized money transmitter and violating sanctions by creating the Tornado Cash crypto-mixing service. US officials say entities such as North Korea's Lazarus Group have used Tornado Cash to launder money.
In September 2023, Storm pleaded not guilty to all charges and was released on $2 million bond after being arrested. He is prohibited from traveling primarily outside of the New York, New Jersey, Washington and California areas.
However, in late March, Storm's attorneys tried to dismiss the charges, saying authorities lacked probable cause to charge him. Semenov stated that he contributed to the code design but is not responsible for its use.
Semenov's legal team's motion to dismiss emphasized that Tornado Cash does not operate as a custodial blending service and does not meet the requirements of a “financial institution.” They said Storm had no control over the service to prevent entities like the Lazar Group from using it.
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A team of prosecutors led by Damian Williams accused Semenov of being responsible for operating the cryptocurrency mixer and developing systems that aided anonymous criminals. The co-founders of Tornado Cash have been criticized for not doing enough to exclude sanctioned addresses.
This comes as the US government continues its crackdown on crypto-mixing services.
On April 24, the founders of Samurai Pocket, a cryptocurrency mixer, Samurai Wallet CEO Keonne Rodriguez and Chief Technology Officer William Hill, were arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and operating an unauthorized money transfer business. , which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Joo has said that crypto mixing services are not criminal in nature after the founders of Samurai Wallet were recently arrested.
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