Roman Storm, Knowingly Transmitting Criminal Proceeds, New York 2024
Convicted of Knowingly Transmitting $1 Billion in Criminal Proceeds
New York, NY - June 1, 2024 - Roman Storm, a 36-year-old co-founder of Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixer, has been convicted of willfully conspiring to operate a money transmitting business that moved more than $1 billion in dirty money.
The conviction comes after a four-week jury trial before U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla. Storm was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
According to the indictment, Storm and his co-founders created the core features of Tornado Cash, paid for critical infrastructure to operate the service, promoted it, and made millions of dollars in profits from operating it. The service allowed customers to engage in untraceable transfers of cryptocurrency, and Storm continued to provide this service with knowledge that Tornado Cash was transmitting large volumes of criminal proceeds.
As proven at trial, Storm was personally aware of numerous instances in which criminals transmitted proceeds of criminal exploits using Tornado Cash, totaling more than $1 billion in criminal proceeds. The transmission of such large sums of criminal proceeds benefitted the operations of Tornado Cash and Storm’s profits from running it.
The case is being handled by the Office’s Illicit Finance and Money Laundering Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thane Rehn, Benjamin A. Gianforti, and Ben Arad, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Mosley, are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Paralegal Specialists Olivia Sebade and Dean Iannuzzelli.
U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton praised the investigative work of the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations, stating, “Roman Storm and Tornado Cash provided a service for North Korean hackers and other criminals to move and hide more than $1 billion of dirty money.”
The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.
Defendant Information:
Real full name: Roman Storm
Criminal charges: Conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business
City and state: Auburn, Washington
Exact date: N/A (no specific date mentioned in the source)
Sentence or outcome: 5 years in prison (maximum)
Dollar amounts: $1 billion in dirty money, $12 million in profits
Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: Cybercrime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
ðŸâ€Â’ Get the grimiest stories delivered weekly. Subscribe free →