Dutch Indictment Alleges Tornado Cash Developer’s Involvement in $1.2B Laundering Case

Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev has been accused of laundering $1.2 billion of illicit funds through the OFAC-sanctioned platform, as per the latest report.

Since his arrest in August 2022, Pertsev has dismissed the allegations of breaching money laundering laws.

• The latest indictment from the Netherlands claims that Pertsev was involved in money laundering on Tornado Cash, referring to over 30 transactions conducted on the platform that were deemed illegal.
• Among these transactions, the Dutch prosecutors also flagged one involving 175 ETH allegedly linked to the Ronin Bridge hack, according to DL News.
• Pertsev is currently awaiting trial in the Netherlands, which is scheduled for March 26, on charges related to money laundering and additional financial offenses.
• Tornado Cash was once the top crypto coin mixing platform, allowing users to transact anonymously.
• However, in 2022, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) prohibited US citizens from using the service, claiming that it had facilitated the laundering of over $7 billion in crypto.
• This included $455 million suspected to have been pilfered in 2022 by the Lazarus Group, a notorious hacking entity linked to the North Korean government.
• In addition to Pertsev, another Tornado Cash developer, Roman Storm, was accused of laundering more than $1 billion in illicit proceeds shortly thereafter.
• While privacy advocates denounced OFAC’s move, both individuals later received public support from Edward Snowden, the former NSA whistleblower.
• According to Chainalysis’ stats, the platform suffered a 93% decline in monthly cash inflows post-sanctions compared to pre-sanctions averages.