According to Odaily Planet Daily, the U.S. Department of Justice on Friday rejected Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm's motion to dismiss criminal charges against him, saying that the documents submitted by the defendant raised controversial facts that the jury should weigh. The U.S. Department of Justice accused Storm and his colleague Roman Semenov of conspiracy to launder money, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed remittance agency, and conspiracy to violate sanctions laws by creating and operating Tornado Cash. U.S. authorities allege that the North Korean hacker group Lazarus Group and other criminal entities laundered money through Tornado Cash.
Earlier in March, Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm had filed a motion seeking to dismiss all three charges against him, including charges that he was operating a money laundering business and violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Roman Storm's lawyer said that Tornado Cash was developed and publicly available before it was used by hacker groups sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department. Therefore, Storm had little ability to prevent sanctioned entities from using Tornado Cash when alleged misconduct occurred.
