Tornado Cash developer’s trial set for March 2024

On Sep 13, 2023

It was in August 2022 that the U.S. sanctioned Tornado Cash.
Within two days, the Dutch police arrested Pertsev in the Netherlands.

Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev is going to face trial in the Netherlands in March 2024, reported DL News. He will face the court in the Dutch city of ‘s-Hertogenbosch for his fourth pre-trial hearing on 26-27 March 2024.

It was on 8 August 2022 that the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in the U.S. sanctioned the crypto mixer. The authorities alleged that the crypto mixer facilitated money laundering worth more than $1 billion.

On 10 August 2022, the Dutch police arrested Pertsev in the Netherlands. It was the Dutch financial crime authority, the Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (FIOD), which ordered such a quick arrest of the Russian national.

The court put Pertsev under house arrest in April 2023. The court conditionally released him under the stipulation that he remain in the country and wear a GPS monitor. The authorities feared he would turn fugitive.

🕊️ @Free__Alexey IS FREE TO GO HOME 🕊️
Next Wednesday 26th, he can await his trial at home with electronic monitoring.
The most important thing is that he can walk around and work on his defense, something that was virtually impossible while detained.
— Eléonore Blanc (@blockblanc) April 20, 2023

Prosecutors in the Netherlands are investigating Pertsev on the suspicions of fraud, environmental crime and asset confiscation. They alleged that Pertsev habitually laundered over 500,000 Ethereum [ETH].

He should have suspected the illicit origin of these funds, the prosecutors alleged. Pertsev refuted those charges.

The court ruled in May 2023 that Pertsev could cross-question blockchain analytics company Chainalysis in writing about its methods.

How is the Tornado Cash case faring in the U.S.?

Recently, Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm pleaded not guilty in a U.S. court. He is facing charges similar to those Pertsev is facing in the Netherlands.

Storm aided the Lazarus Group, the notorious hacking outfit allegedly sponsored by the North Korean state, in laundering funds, prosecutors claimed.

Another accused, Roman Semenov, remains at large. He is another Tornado Cash co-founder.

Even as there is opposition to the sanctions against Tornado Cash by free speech proponents, authorities in both the U.S. and the Netherlands are taking legal action against the accused individuals.

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