The legal team of Roman Storm, co-founder of Tornado Cash, argued that when prosecutors charged him in fall 2023, they failed to disclose key information about a call between Samourai wallet case prosecutors and senior FinCEN officials, during which FinCEN reportedly stated that a crypto mixer Samourai Wallet is likely not a money transmitter, as it did not custody customer funds

Event date

May 16, 2025

Quotes that support claims

The filing points to an August 2023 call between prosecutors in the Southern District of New York and senior FinCEN officials, revealed earlier this month in the Samourai Wallet case. During that call, FinCEN reportedly stated that because Samourai Wallet never took custody of user funds, it likely did not qualify as a money services business, a designation that carries hefty regulatory requirements.

In a motion filed on Friday, Storm’s lawyers argue that prosecutors withheld key communications with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network that could undermine the government’s central claim that Tornado Cash operated as an unlicensed money transmitting business under US law.

"The defense recently learned that the government has possessed exculpatory materials since August 2023 that go to the heart of a fundamental issue in this case: whether a noncustodial cryptocurrency mixer is a 'money transmitting business' for purposes of 18 U.S.C. § 1960," the filing said. "The government’s failure to produce those materials in the fall of 2023, when Roman Storm was indicted and first appeared in court, constitutes a Brady violation that has materially prejudiced his defense,"

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Week 20 of 2025