The U.S. Division of Justice pushed again in opposition to Twister Money developer Roman Storm’s movement to dismiss a felony indictment in opposition to him.
Twister Money was a cash transmitting enterprise, and the DOJ mentioned it expects its proof to help the costs, a Friday submitting mentioned.
The U.S. Division of Justice rebuffed Twister Money developer Roman Storm’s movement to dismiss felony prices on Friday, saying the protection submitting introduced disputed details {that a} jury ought to weigh in on, quite than arguments that match an early-stage movement.
The DOJ charged Storm, alongside fellow developer Roman Semenov, with conspiring to commit cash laundering, conspiring to function an unlicensed cash transmitter and conspiring to violate sanctions legislation by creating and working Twister Money, a crypto mixing service designed to anonymize transactions. North Korea’s Lazarus Group and different felony entities have laundered funds via Twister Money, U.S. authorities have alleged.
Storm’s attorneys moved to dismiss the indictment on the finish of March, arguing that Twister Money is just not a custodial mixing service – and would not match the definition of a “monetary establishment” – and that Storm was not in a position to management the service or block Lazarus and comparable teams from utilizing it.
Merely creating code for the mission is not the identical as working a cash laundering entity, the protection argued.
In Friday’s submitting, the DOJ disputed how the protection characterised Twister Money, saying it was introduced in 2019 as a mixer and the general service features a web site, consumer interface, a mix of good contracts and a “community of ‘relayers.'”
“The defendant can not get hold of dismissal of the Indictment by merely making factual assertions about his personal contested view as to how the Twister Money service operated and based mostly on his personal self-serving model of his intent or lack thereof when taking sure acts,” Friday’s submitting mentioned.
The DOJ additionally disputed Storm’s assertions about how the Twister Money interface labored and the way a lot management particular person customers may need over the deposit and withdrawal course of, offering screenshots. The submitting additionally argues that Storm and his co-founders maintained management over the mixer, at the least throughout the time interval the DOJ is referring to in its charging doc (2019 to August 2022).
The submitting makes repeated references to proof the DOJ expects to introduce throughout trial, addressing how Storm and different Twister Money founders constructed and developed the system, how folks used Twister Money and different particulars.
Storm is ready to go on trial this September, whereas Semenov stays at giant.