Tornado Cash producer Alexey Persev has been denied bail while he prepares an appeal.
Alexei Persev, the developer behind OFAC-approved crypto mixer Tornado Cash, has been denied bail as his lawyer prepares to file an appeal on money laundering charges.
Percev's defense attorney, Keith Cheng, told DL News that while the denial of Percev's bail request was surprising, he noted that Percev's additional request for access to a computer to prepare the appeal was also denied.
The court stated that Percev's detention would not be an obstacle to preparing the defense and said that Percev's request for computer access was against the security protocol.
Percev's lawyer, Judith de Boer, disagreed with the court's decision, saying it was “unacceptable” to pretrial detention on “such fundamental” legal questions.
“This is an unprecedented case where a software developer can be held criminally liable for third-party misuse,” de Boer added.
Percev was found guilty on May 14 of money laundering at the Hertogenbosch Court of Appeal in the Netherlands.
The developer was sentenced to 5 years and 4 months in prison for defrauding the platform of illegal assets worth 1.2 billion dollars.
The July 13 decision marks the third time Percev's bail request has been denied.
In the year In November 2023, a Dutch court rejected the developer's request for supervised release based on the prosecution's argument that the Percev posed a flight risk.
Prosecutors argued Percev acted as a central figure in the Tornado Cash operation. The builder's warranty was denied again in February.
JustDAO-affiliated fundraiser Legal Defense for TornadoCash's developers said the ruling on the X account was a “gross injustice” in a July 12 post for XX.
Related: Crypto community backs Tornado Cash devs with $2.3M in legal funding
“Alexei will spend the next year in jail while the legal team prepares for the appeal hearing. This is a huge miscarriage of justice. Developers do not go to jail for the actions of third parties,” the account wrote.
During the March hearing, Percev argued that it could not be held liable for the actions of people who used the Tornado Cash protocol for malicious or illegal purposes.
The court rejected this argument, saying that if Percev and the other co-founders of Tornado Cash had really wanted to prevent criminals from abusing the protocol, they would have taken additional measures to ensure greater security.
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