US Authorities Crack Down on Tornado Cash Co-Founders for Money Laundering and Sanctions Violations
Summary:
US authorities have added Roman Semenov, co-founder of cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash, to their list of sanctioned individuals. Fellow co-founder, Roman Storm, was also arrested. The charges include money laundering, sanctions violations, and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. The actions are part of a broader crackdown on Tornado Cash, which has allegedly laundered over $1 billion in illicit funds.
The co-founder of the Tornado Cash cryptocurrency "mixer," Roman Semenov, has been added to the United States Treasury's list of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on August 23. Meanwhile, another co-founder, Roman Storm, was arrested on the same day by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation division in Washington state. The charges against Semenov and Storm include conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit sanctions violations, and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business. If convicted, each could face up to 20 years in prison for the first two counts, and up to five years for the money transmitting charge. While Semenov remains at large, the third co-founder, Alexey Pertsev, was arrested in the Netherlands in August 2022 on money laundering charges. This action by the U.S. government is part of its ongoing crackdown on Tornado Cash, with the Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioning the platform last year, and sparking controversy within the crypto community. The cryptocurrency mixer has allegedly laundered over $1 billion in illicit funds, according to the allegations made by the Department of Justice.
Published At
8/23/2023 7:00:10 PM
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