Roman Storm, co-founder of cryptocurrency mixing platform Tornado Cash, pleaded not guilty to the charges in New York District Court. Storm is facing money laundering, violation of rules and unauthorized money transfer charges.
Prosecutors alleged in court that Tornado Cash served nefarious purposes and laundered more than $1 billion in illicit proceeds in violation of U.S. sanctions. Authorities also stated that founder Roman Storm helped the hacker group Lazarus through the application.
Tornado Cash founder Roman Storm did not accept any of these accusations.
Why Was the Famous Platform Banned?
The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Tornado Cash in August 2022, banning citizens from using this platform. Authorities stated that malicious people were able to lose track of them through the application.
Tornado management, on the other hand, did not pay any heed to this decision. After a long time, Roman Storm was arrested. Roman Semenov and Alexey Pertsev, co-founders of Tornado Cash, live outside the USA.
The judge ordered Storm to remain under house arrest for $2 million in personal security. The next hearing is on November 30.
