- Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev have garnered over $350,000 in legal fees.
- The developers are now facing money laundering allegations brought by the U.S DOJ.
Tornado Cash developers Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev have garnered over $350,000 in legal fees and public support from former NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.
U.S. authorities have charged Roman Storm and Roman Semenov of Tornado Cash with violating sanctions and laundering money. The $600 million Ronin Network assault and North Korean hackers have been associated with Tornado Cash.
In August 2023, Storm, who is a dual citizen of the United States and Russia, was indicted with money laundering and sanctions breaches. The Department of Justice (DOJ) put him under house arrest in Washington State, and a trial is anticipated for 2024. To the accusations, he has entered a not guilty plea. Along with Roman Semenov, another co-founder and developer, there were charges, but he remains free as of now. Alexey Pertsev has been in Netherlands jail since 2023.
Privacy is Not a Crime
The crypto mixing service attempts to conceal the wallet addresses and provide anonymity for both the sender and the recipient; the DOJ claims that over $1 billion in cryptocurrency was transferred via it.
In a twitter post, Storm forecasted that 2024 will be the defining year of his life. He said that he is terrified, however optimistic, nevertheless, that the community cares deeply. He urged the community to contribute to the cost of his legal defense. In his retweet, Snowden reiterated his call for assistance and said, “Privacy is not a crime.”
Storm, who was involved with developing Tornado Cash, is now facing money laundering allegations brought by the US Department of Justice. A trial is anticipated to take place in 2024.
Highlighted Crypto News Today:
