• The DOJ has opposed the motion filed by Tornado Cash co-founder, Roman Semenov.

  • According to the DOJ, Semenov’s filing is unsuited for early-stage motions.

  • The DOJ argued why the Tornado Cash founder should answer to the charges alleged against him.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has opposed the motion filed by Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Semenov, seeking the court to dismiss the conspiracy and money laundering charges against him. In a recent filing, the DOJ argued that Semenov’s filing raised disputed facts for jury consideration, noting that it is unsuited for early-stage motions.

The DOJ’s response contained an analysis of why the Tornado Cash founder should answer to the charges alleged against him. The Justice Department argued against how the defendant characterized Tornado Cash, noting that it started in 2019 as a mixer. More specifically, the DOJ highlighted that Tornado Cash comprises a website, a user interface, a set of smart contracts, and a network of “relayers.”

Focusing on the project’s founders, the DOJ accused Roman Storm and Roman Semenov of multiple offenses, including conspiracy to commit money laundering, operating an unlicensed money transmitter, and violating sanctions by creating Tornado Cash, a crypto-mixing service. It is essential to note that U.S. authorities claim that entities like North Korea’s Lazarus Group used Tornado Cash to launder funds.

Tornado Cash’s filing to dismiss the charges introduced a fresh dynamic to events surrounding the case. Last September, Storm pleaded guilty to all charges, following which the authorities released him on a $2 million bond after his arrest. Part of the conditions of his release included restriction to travel outside some areas of New York, New Jersey, Washington, and California.

Last month, Storm’s attorneys filed for a dismissal of the case, citing the authorities’ lack of grounds to charge him. On his part, Semenov claimed that he contributed to Tornado Cash’s code design but cannot be held responsible for how its deployment.

Semenov’s legal team argued that Tornado Cash is not a custodial mixing service. Hence, the solution does not meet the criteria for a “financial institution.” They also claimed Storm had no control over the service to prevent entities like Lazarus Group from using it. 

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