Last wednesday, Samourai Wallet founders Keonne Rodriguez and William Hill were arrested and charged with conspiracy to money laundering and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money service business in the Southern District Court of New York. The indictment alleges that Samourai Wallet “facilitated more than $100 Million in money laundering transactions from illegal dark web markets”.
It should be noted that the treatment of Samourai founders, who are currently serving pre-trial detention, stands in no comparison to the handling of financial crime allegations around the world. Since 2000, traditional financial institutions, such as UBS, JP Morgan, and Bank of America, have been fined over $380 Billion. The argument that traditional banks are primarily used for legal transactions can also be applied to Samourai Wallet, as the indictment reportedly only alleges the transmission of illicit funds of 3.6% of Samourai’s total transaction volume, leaving 96.4% of legitimate usage.
The Samourai case has been assigned to judge Richard M. Berman, who previously presided over the the Jeffrey Epstein case. In 2005, Berman ruled that random police searches of riders bags on the New York City subway did not violate the U.S. constitution.
Credit goes to L0la L33tz read full article here
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/legal/samourai-wallet-breaking-down-dangerous-precedents
