Tornado Cash founders charged with $1B conspiracy to aid North Korea

Tornado Cash conspiracy case overview: 

• Who: The Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office has charged Tornado Cash owners Roman Storm and Roman Semenov of laundering more than $1 billion as part of a conspiracy with North Korea.
• Why: The government claims Storm and Semenov made millions of dollars by working with a North Korean cybercrime organization known as the Lazarus Group, which the pair are alleged to have laundered hundreds of millions of dollars for.  
• Where: The case is in New York federal court. 

The government has charged two proprietors of the crypto transfer service Tornado Cash with conspiring with the country of North Korea to launder money as part of a $1 billion conspiracy scheme.  

The Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office charged Roman Storm and Roman Semenov with money laundering conspiracy, and conspiracy to violate U.S. sanctions targeting North Korea, among other things. 

Storm, who was taken into custody earlier this week, and Semenov, who remains at large, are accused of making millions of dollars by allegedly working with the North Korean hacking group the Lazarus Project. 

In a statement, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said Storm and Semenov “knowingly facilitated” money laundering in excess of more than $1 billion in criminal proceeds and worked with North Korea in an alleged violation of U.S. sanctions. 

“While publicly claiming to offer a technically sophisticated privacy service, Storm and Semenov in fact knew that they were helping hackers and fraudsters conceal the fruits of their crimes,” Williams said. 

Tornado Cash owners laundered hundreds of millions of dollars for North Korean hacking group, says government

Storm and Semenov are accused of using Tornado Cash — a crypto transfer business enabling secretive transactions — to facilitate more than $1 billion in money laundering transactions from 2019 to 2022. 

As part of their alleged scheme, Storm and Semenov laundered hundreds of millions of dollars for the Lazarus Group, according to the government. 

“Those charged today engaged in a conspiracy to launder money for cybercriminals, including for a North Korean cybercrime organization seeking to evade sanctions,” FBI Director Christopher A. Wray said, in a statement. 

Tornado Cash was banned by the U.S. Treasury Department and the Office of Foreign Assets Control last August after the Treasury claimed North Korean hackers used the mixing service to launder crypto funds that were stolen during a cyberattack. 

Do you believe Tornado Cash was used to launder money for North Korea? Let us know in the comments! 

The government is represented by Thane Rehn and Benjamin Gianforti of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

The Tornado Cash conspiracy case is U.S. v. Storm, et al., Case No. 23-cr-430, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

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