- Twister Money founders Roman Storm and Roman Semenov have been charged with cash laundering and sanctions violations.
- U.S. Legal professional Damien Williams mentioned builders knew their know-how was used to launder at the very least $1 billion in illicit earnings.
- The Treasury Division’s Workplace of International Asset Management (OFAC) sanctioned Twister Money final over hyperlinks to North Korea’s Lazarus Group.
- Developer Alex Pertsev was arrested by Dutch police final yr and later launched on house arrest after 9 months.
The founders of OFAC-sanctioned crypto Twister Money face expenses over $1 billion in illicit wealth allegedly laundered by the crypto tumbler.
Roman Storm and Roman Semenov have been arrested following expenses of cash laundering and sanctions violations because the U.S. continues its crackdown on crypto companies and decentralized monetary instruments.
Semenov specifically was added to the Treasury Division’s Workplace of International Asset Management (OFAC) SDN checklist that includes “Specifically Designated Nationals and Blocked Individuals”. The OFAC additionally sanctioned eight Ethereum addresses owned by the founder.
Twister Money which permits customers to anonymize crypto transactions on the Ethereum community was blacklisted by U.S. authorities final yr. The U.S. linked to DeFi platform to the state-funded hacker group Lazarus in North Korea.
On Tuesday, U.S. Legal professional Damien Williams wrote that Twister Money builders have been conscious that criminals laundered lots of of tens of millions of stolen funds by their crypto obfuscating service.
Whereas publicly claiming to supply a technically subtle privateness service, Storm and Semenov actually knew that they have been serving to hackers and fraudsters conceal the fruits of their crimes.
The indictment indicators prosecution for actors who knowingly violate U.S. legal guidelines by laundering cash by cryptocurrencies, Legal professional Williams added.
Twister Money Caught In US Storm
Along with expenses towards Twister Money founders and big cash laundering expenses, developer Alexey Pertsev was arrested by Dutch police for his involvement within the mission. Pertsev spent 9 months in detention earlier than his launch on house arrest.