The founders of Samourai Wallet, Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill, have been taken into custody by US law enforcement on charges of laundering more than $100 million.
Based on a press release from the US Department of Justice on April 24, Rodriguez and Hill are now facing charges for conspiring to launder money and illegally run a money transmitting business using the cryptocurrency mixing platform, Samourai.
According to the announcement, Rodriguez was taken into custody on American ground, whereas Hill was captured in Portugal and is expected to be handed over for a trial. Should they be found guilty, Rodriguez could be punished with a maximum term of 20 years, and Hill with a maximum sentence of five years.
The Samurai’s Wallet website, located in Iceland, was taken down, and a request was made to Google Play Store to remove the app from circulation.
Authorities claim that the duo facilitated over $2 billion in illegal transactions using their protocol, earning them approximately $4.5 million in processing fees since 2015. According to the DOJ, Samourai’s developers advertised the platform as being dedicated to “censorship resistance and a black/grey market economy,” providing a secretive environment for criminals to conduct illicit activities.
The allegation that Samourai was aware of criminal activity using their platform is backed up by references to private messages and social media postsings linked to Hill. These sources suggest that not only were criminals utilizing the tool, but in certain instances, Samourai may have even endorsed such actions.
Arrests mark the latest phase in a persistent effort to curb the use of crypto mixers suspected of being employed by malicious groups such as North Korea’s Lazarus, allowing them to hide their illicit activities from scrutiny and thwart investigative efforts.
Recently, the founder of Bitcoin Fog, Roman Sterlingov, was successfully prosecuted by federal authorities for assisting in transactions worth over $400 million related to illegal drug sales.
The Justice Department is currently pursuing charges against the developers of Tornado Cash, specifically Roman Storm and Roman Semenov. Meanwhile, other cryptocurrency tumblers such as Blender and Sinbad have been subject to sanctions. (Paraphrased)
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2024-04-24 23:36