Tornado Cash Developer Sentenced to Over 5 Years for $1.2B Money Laundering

• On May 14, the s-Hertogenbosch court handed down the ruling.
• The hacker outfit Lazarus relied heavily on Tornado Cash, according to the U.S. Treasury.

A Dutch court has sentenced Tornado Cash’s developer, Alexey Pertsev, to 64 months in jail. This decision stems from his role in $1.2 billion worth of money laundering. On May 14, the s-Hertogenbosch court handed down the ruling.

The verdict against Tornado Cash’s developer represents a watershed point in the ongoing judicial fight against illegal financial activities in the cryptocurrency industry. The money laundering pattern that was laid forth in Pertsev’s accusation extended from July 9, 2019, to August 10, 2022. During this time, he reportedly facilitated the Tornado Cash platform to conduct transactions whose origins were illicit.

No Measures Taken to Monitor Illicit Transfers

Furthermore, Pertsev was found to have been involved in the unlawful actions by the court. It further drove home the point that he ought to have known that the transactions were illegal. Additionally, this decision establishes a standard that may affect cases in the future that include other developers of Tornado Cash.

U.S. authorities have charged Roman Storm and Roman Semenov, who worked together to create the crypto mixer, with money laundering and violating sanctions. Last year, when Tornado Cash was added to the U.S. sanctions lists, Storm was detained. His trial is also set for September 2024. Nevertheless, there have been no recorded arrests of Semenov, and he is still at large.

The court also found that Tornado Cash was not adequately monitored for the prevention of illegal asset laundering. However, Pertsev’s lawyers still have time to challenge the decision.

Following the U.S. government’s blacklisting of Tornado Cash, the developer encountered consequences, including a first detention in the Netherlands in August 2022. Allegedly, the North Korean hacker outfit Lazarus relied heavily on Tornado Cash, according to the U.S. Treasury.

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