Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm to face trial after judge denies motion to dismiss

Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm will face a money laundering trial on December 2 in New York.

This is after US District Judge Katherine Polk Failla rejected his motion to dismiss three charges brought against him by the US Department of Justice. (DoJ)

The judge rejects Roman Storm’s defense

During a remote hearing on September 26, Judge Failla ruled against Storm, who had argued that his involvement in Tornado Cash was limited to writing the code for the software and that he had no control over how the tool later.

According to DeFi Education Fund Legal Director Amanda Tuminelli, who shared details of the X hearing, “The court rejected the arguments in Storm’s motion to dismiss as a matter of law and strongly relied on what he said which were questions of fact for trial.”

He explained that the judge dismissed his pleas on the basis that control of illegal activities was not necessary for the charges to stand. He added that Failla emphasized that the government’s burden was to prove that Tornado Cash’s developer knew it was handling the proceeds of a crime, not that it conspired with users to further criminal activity.

The court also stated that Storm’s state of mind, and thus knowledge of possible criminal enterprise, should be a question for the jury to decide. Judge Failla further noted that the statutes in question had given him sufficient notice that his conduct could be considered criminal despite the unconventional nature of the technology he was using.

Jake Chervinsky condemns the decision in the case

Meanwhile, Jake Chervinsky, chief legal officer at Variant Fund, expressed concern about X, calling the ruling “an assault on the freedom of software developers everywhere.” He described the decision as “a perversion of the law and a travesty of justice”.

Storm and fellow Tornado Cash developer Roman Semenov were charged with three key crimes: conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmission business, and conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

In August 2023, the DOJ alleged that the crypto-mixing service knowingly facilitated illegal transactions, including funds linked to North Korea’s Lazarus Group.

Storm, who has pleaded not guilty to all charges, will now prepare for a trial in December which is expected to last two weeks. However, Semenov remains at large.

Tuminelli concluded by noting that while the judge did not issue a formal written opinion, he is expected to provide a “substantive” decision on the case, likely to avoid setting a precedent that other courts could refer to.

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