- The developer of crypto tumbler Tornado Cash is facing money laundering accusations.
- Pertsev is set to appear in court to stand trial for his accusations on March 26.
- The defendant’s lawyer claims prosecutors aren’t being transparent about the exact crime the developer committed.
According to an indictment by Dutch prosecutors, the developer of Tornado Cash, an open-source, non-custodial, fully decentralized tumbler, is facing an accusation of laundering $1.2 billion.
According to the three-page document written in Dutch, Alexey Pertsev has allegedly developed a pattern of engaging in money laundering. Reports claimed that the developer is set to appear for trial in the Dutch city of ‘s-Hertogenbosch starting March 26.
In the indictment, the prosecutors have listed 36 allegedly illicit transactions from decentralized protocols to Tornado Cash. Moreover, it alleges that Pertsev was a co-perpetrator in laundering assets through the crypto mixer.
One of the alleged illicit transactions involved a large sum exceeding 175 ETH. The transaction was reported to have originated from Ronin Bridge, a cryptocurrency protocol linking the widely played game Axie Infinity to the Ethereum blockchain.
Reportedly, Keith Cheng, Pertsev’s lawyer, who has been representing the accused since his initial arrest in August 2022, claims prosecutors are not being transparent about the exact act that he has committed to take part in the criminal offense. Pertsev has denied that he has violated money laundering laws ever since he was arrested in August 2022.
In 2022, 50 protesters surged onto Dam Square in Amsterdam, demanding the release of 29-year-old Pertsev. Pertsev, who was held two days after the freezing of Tornado Cash, was given a verdict on August 12, where the judge adjudicated him to be kept under custody for two weeks following a closed-door hearing. Pertsev was released in April 2023 after serving nearly nine months and was subject to ankle bracelet monitoring.
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