DOJ Misquotes Tornado Cash Team in Guilt Allegation

Ahead of the trial of Roman Storm, co-founder of Tornado Cash, his defense claims that Southern District prosecutors misattributed a quote to imply the team’s 'consciousness of guilt'. This centers around Telegram messages from Dutch authorities connected to Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev’s prosecution, where he received a 64-month sentence for money laundering. One key message stated: 'Heya, anyone around to chat about axie? Would like to ask a few general questions about how one goes about cashing out 600 mil.' This refers to a $600 million exploit from the blockchain game Axie Infinity. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ben Arad cited this message in a July 8 hearing, suggesting it indicated the co-founders’ guilt. Arad argued that when the Ronin hack occurred, one co-conspirator inquired about laundering the stolen funds, suggesting that they were aware of being watched after OFAC sanctions. Storm's defense presented filings demonstrating that the quoted message was initially penned by Andrew Thurman of CoinDesk and forwarded by Pertsev to a Tornado Cash chat. They argued, 'Given that the government mistakenly attributed the reporter’s Telegram message to Pertsev, it indicates the government was unaware of this issue until we raised it.' In response, prosecutors acknowledged that their original message set did not mark forwarded texts, contributing to the confusion. They provided a corrected version in December 2024 for use in trial, asserting that this had no impact on the messages' authenticity. However, they requested that the judge dismiss the defense's motion to exclude the Telegram evidence. The defense refuted the idea that they delayed their motion strategically, emphasizing that the government did not disclose their own timeline in discovering the misattribution. They stressed that the misquoted information raised concerns about the integrity of grand jury proceedings and requested access to grand jury transcripts. The prosecutors apologized for the oversight but maintained their intent to use the evidence in court. Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet delivering news and information about the crypto industry. This article is not intended as legal or financial advice.