Zamora Wallet Co-Founder Pleads Not Guilty, Released on $1M Bond

Keon Rodriguez, one of two individuals linked to cryptocurrency mixer Zamora Wallet, who has been charged with money laundering by the United States Department of Justice, has pleaded not guilty and been released on bail.

On April 29, Rodriguez pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and money laundering after appearing in US District Court for the Southern District of New York. U.S. attorneys have agreed to a $1 million bond for the Zamora Wallet co-founder, with his travel restricted to parts of New York and Pennsylvania, not just his home.

Rodriguez is mostly confined to his home in Harmony, Pennsylvania, and is forced to wear a location monitoring device. The warranty also prohibits Samurai Pocket from providing services or participating “directly or indirectly” in “any cryptocurrency transaction” without prior approval.

William Hill, the chief technology officer of Zamora Wallet, was arrested on April 24 – the same day as Rodriguez – and has yet to appear in a US court. This was made possible by the fact that Hill was arrested in Portugal and authorities were conducting extradition proceedings. Rodriguez is scheduled to appear in court again on May 14.

Related: Can Crypto Mixers Adapt to Survive US Official Prosecution?

Both individuals face up to 20 years in prison on the money laundering charge and five years on the conspiracy to commit money laundering charge. Authorities have seized the servers and domains of Samora Wallet in Iceland.

The arrests are part of the US government's crackdown on a series of cryptocurrency mixers whose technology has been said to facilitate money laundering by hacker groups and terrorists. The US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control has imposed sanctions on Blender and Tornado Cash despite criticism from many industry leaders and lawmakers.

Magazine: Tornado Cash 2.0: The Race to Build Safe and Legal Coin Mixers