The fate of the Co-Founder of cryptocurrency mixing service firm, Tornado Cash, is now in the hands of jurors. In the ongoing trial, the closing arguments by both prosecutors and defense took place on Wednesday. If convicted of the three charges, Roman Storm could face more than 40 years in prison.
The prosecutors claim that Roman Storm is a conspirator. They allege that Storm conspired to launder money, violated US sanctions, and operated an unlicensed money-transmitting business.
“Tornado Cash was a fancy online money launderer,” said Ben Gianforti, an assistant US attorney, adding “The business was a privacy for criminals. I urge you to use your common sense. Roman Storm is guilty. Thank you.”
Gianforti also said that Storm is a conspirator guilty of hiding dirty money, running an illegal transmitting business, and violating sanctions against North Korea and the Lazarus Group.
Defence Argues for Roman’s Innocence
On the other hand, the defense argued that helping the criminals was never the intention of Roman Storm. Storm’s defense attorney, David Patton, said that Tornado Cash is like many other technology products, in that criminals, as well as regular citizens, find them useful.
The defence attorney also argued that Storm did not intend to help hackers to use Tornado Cash and that they were not happy when they learned about North Korean hackers using it.
Also Read: MEXC Blocks 70K Scams as Global Crypto Fraud Surges
